Farmers keep wishing for drought as their loans would be waived, says Karnataka minister

He said at the convention, “Due to drought, the Chief Minister has distributed seeds and fertilisers free of cost. Now farmers wish for repeated droughts so that they can get their loans waived. But that is not right. Because climatic conditions are such, there will be a drought once every three to four years and the government helps farmers during a crisis.”

Co-operative Minister Shivanand Patil has waded into a controversy by saying that farmers keep wishing for repeated droughts as they can avail loan waiver benefits. The statement drew strong reaction from farmers organisations and Opposition parties.

He was speaking at the foundation day celebrations of the Suttatti Primary Agriculture Co-operative Society near Chikkodi in Belagavi district.

He said at the convention, “The waters of the Krishna are freely available for irrigation and power supply for irrigation pumpsets is free too. Due to drought, the Chief Minister has distributed seeds and fertilisers free of cost. Now farmers wish for repeated droughts so that they can get their loans waived. But that is not right. We should not think in that manner. Because climatic conditions are such that even if you do not wish for it, there will be a drought once every three to four years and the government helps farmers during a crisis,” he said.

He further said that loan waivers have been offered by successive Chief Ministers like Siddharamaiah, H.D. Kumaraswamy and B.S. Yediyurappa.

“This year, due to the drought, Mr. Siddharamaiah has offered to waive off interest for medium term loans. But we should understand that the government can help farmers only during a crisis not at all times. No government can be of any help, in fact. If we all understand this and develop a vision for the future, it will be good for everyone,” he said.

“Times will change and new technologies and markets will help farmers,” he said, adding, “For example, none had thought that ethanol can be manufactured from sugarcane. But now, it has opened up many possibilities and new markets and is helping farmers get better prices,” the Minister said.

Mr. Patil said that the Union government had kept most food prices under check as it did not want food inflation to rise before Lok Sabha polls. “If prices of onion, sugar, copra and other commodities are not rising it is because they are all being controlled by the Union government. This is hurting farmers, as they are unable to get remunerative prices,’‘ the minister said.