Mathura: Farmers in Uttar Pradesh are desperate, and restless.
Kharag Singh, a potato farmer in Bhurjtula village, adjacent to the holy city of Mathura, is one example. The 54-year-old, who took a loan of Rs1.5 lakh in 2007 and has been unable to repay it, says he has just one request to make to the government— “please take my land and give me a regular job.”
Singh isn’t the only farmer in Bhurjtula who is worried about his future. Hit by crashing potato prices in the country, farmers in Uttar Pradesh are now waiting for implementation of the farm loan waiver announced by the newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Farmers like Kharag Singh are worried they will be excluded from the farm loan waiver plan because the state government has announced it will be restricted to small and marginal farmers with outstanding loans of up to Rs1 lakh. To be sure, Uttar Pradesh was the among the first to write off farm loans, amounting to as much Rs36,359 crore—the largest by any state government. Read More.
Kharag Singh, a potato farmer in Bhurjtula village, adjacent to the holy city of Mathura, is one example. The 54-year-old, who took a loan of Rs1.5 lakh in 2007 and has been unable to repay it, says he has just one request to make to the government— “please take my land and give me a regular job.”
Singh isn’t the only farmer in Bhurjtula who is worried about his future. Hit by crashing potato prices in the country, farmers in Uttar Pradesh are now waiting for implementation of the farm loan waiver announced by the newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Farmers like Kharag Singh are worried they will be excluded from the farm loan waiver plan because the state government has announced it will be restricted to small and marginal farmers with outstanding loans of up to Rs1 lakh. To be sure, Uttar Pradesh was the among the first to write off farm loans, amounting to as much Rs36,359 crore—the largest by any state government. Read More.