“I am committed to waiving off farm loans,” he said told farmers at a meeting convened specially for discussing farm loan waivers, without specifying when the scheme will be implemented. However, in a statement, the chief minister said that all the modalities of the scheme would be ready within the next 15 days. Just five days after proving his majority, Kumaraswamy’s government has seen pressure from all sections, especially farmers and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to waive farm loans. Though Kumaraswamy is set to present another budget, the Rs53,000 crore farm loan waiver would account for around 25% of the existing budget. He added that other than the farm loan waiver, he would have to look at expenditure on social justice, education, health, irrigation and other sectors.

Source: Mint May 30, 2018 17:15 UTC