'On average, each farmer family has outstanding loan of Rs 74,121'
New Delhi: In the year when the country is celebrating 75 years of its independence by observing it as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, on average every family of farmers
has an outstanding loan of Rs 74,121.
In a shocking revelation, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has told Rajya Sabha on Friday that there are a total 9,30,93,500 agricultural households and the average amount of outstanding loan per family stands at Rs 74,121.
In a written reply to a question asked by Anbumani Ramadoss and Sandosh Kumar P, the Union Agriculture Minister told the Upper House that the government has taken major initiatives to help the farmers and thus free them from the clutches of moneylenders.
However, as per the data submitted by the minister, Andhra Pradesh has highest amount of outstanding loan per agricultural household at Rs 2,45,554 against the estimated 31,58,700 agriculture household in the state, followed by Kerala at Rs 2,42,482 out of total 14,66,700 estimated agriculture household and Punjab at Rs 2,03,249 out of total 14,67,100 agriculture household.
With an estimated agriculture household of 19,06,200, Haryana has an average outstanding loan of Rs 1,82,922 per household, while Telangana's 26,55,700 agricultural household has an average outstanding loan of Rs 1,52,113 for each household and while Karnataka's 42,50,100 agricultural household has an average outstanding loan of Rs 1,26,240 for every family.
Bihar has an average outstanding loan of Rs 23,534 per family out of total 70,12,300 agricultural household, while Jharkhand has an outstanding loan of Rs 8,415 per family for 28,08,000 agricultural household and West Bengal has an outstanding dues of Rs 26,452 per family for 66,89,000 households. The minister further said that the government has launched schemes such as KCC saturation drive to ensure concessional institutional credit to all eligible farmers in the country, income support of Rs 6,000 per year to farm
families in three equal installments through Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), formation of joint liabilities groups (JLG's), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan-Dhan Yojana.
Also, the government is implementing a scheme for creation of 10,000 FPOs. FPOs work on the collectivisation model, and significantly enhance the bargaining powers of small and marginal farmers, Tomar said, adding that the average landholding size is 1.08 hectare. The minister informed the House that a cooperative model has been suggested as a way out of these issues.
