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| Waist-high in debt: Gopriram Dhamad, a farmer in Rohtak, has taken out one loan at 24 percent interest to pay off another. Mark Sappenfield |
India's farmers doubt Delhi's big aid pledge
Many don't believe the government's Feb. 29 plan to waive debts will be fulfilled.
from the March 11, 2008 edition
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They know they are supposed to be excited by this new loan, yet the announcement has had the opposite effect. Conversation explodes into accusations and frustration – the farmers claiming that, for all the hype surrounding the announcement of the loan waiver, nothing has happened.
Ramesh Kumar Balhara waves his documents about land holdings and loans in the air as if they were a campaign speech. He has just come from the bank to inquire about the scheme. "They say they have no instructions," he declares. "They have no idea about this."
Many of the details of the loan waiver are not yet clear. The finance minister has said they will come out as the plan is discussed in parliament, and that the project will be implemented by July. But farmers here are wary.
In general, they see nothing wrong with the principle. But based on previous experience, many doubt the banks will actually follow through with loan waivers.
"When the finance ministry comes out with such measures, the banks never come on board to fully implement the scheme in question," says Ramphal Kandela, local head of the BKU. "I don't have much expectation that this will benefit many of the farmers."
Elsewhere, those few details that have emerged are causing consternation. In the area of the country where suicides are most common, farmers generally have plots larger than five acres.
"The farmers who are committing suicide will not be benefited," says Kishore Tiwari of the Jan Andolan Samiti, a farmers' advocacy group in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state.
At four acres, Dhamad's farm fits the guidelines perfectly – as does his situation. He has been in debt for 40 years, he says.
"Every farmer has to take out a loan to get their crop out – whether it's for seed or fertilizer or diesel," says Jagwan Singh, a farmer from a nearby village.
But this time has been different, says Dhamad, thumbing his wheat thoughtfully: His yield is down because there has been less rain. So even though wheat prices are currently fair, next month's harvest will likely only get his household through the season. It will not pay off his $3,750 loan – or the 10 percent interest.
"I don't see any way out," he says, unless rainfall increases.
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