BJP wants farm loan waiver net widened

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today demanded that the government should raise the eligibility limit of land holdings for the agricultural loan waiver announced in the Budget.

The party said the government should raise the limit to 10 acres for those with access to irrigated land and 16 acres for those who undertake dry-land farming.

The BJP's parliamentary party, in a meeting today, termed the waiver as "too little, too late".

To study the impact of the waiver on the ground, the party has set up a committee of MPs headed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha to seek inputs from the state units on how the scheme is faring.

Other members of the committee are Kalyan Singh, Vikram Verma, Santosh Gangwar, Brijendra Pal Singh and Kharabela Swain.

Today's meeting was chaired by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, LK Advani, who said the government had failed to show from where the Rs 60,000 crore needed for the waiver would come.

"The government has also failed to give an indication on how this will impact fiscal and revenue deficits," said VK Malhotra, the party's parliamentary spokesperson.

"Advaniji also pointed out that nearly two-thirds of those indebted owe the money to private money-lenders," he added.

Advani hinted at the strategy to combat the Budget's populism by asking those scheduled to speak to brush up their facts on price rise.