(PTI)New Delhi, June 12 (PTI): Finance minister Arun Jaitley today said the Union government would not partake in states' fiscal leverage in waiving farm loans and made it clear that the cost had to be borne by them. Uttar Pradesh was the first state this year to announce a whopping Rs 36,359 crore farm debt waiver for small and marginal farmers. Rich farmers are likely to be excluded from the loan waiver announced by the BJP-led government in Maharashtra, a senior minister said. The farmers called off their agitation after the government came out with the loan waiver promise. Nitish attacks Centre Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for the "agrarian crisis in most parts of the country", and threw an open electoral challenge at the BJP.

Source: The Telegraph June 12, 2017 21:22 UTC