Jharkhand to waive farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh, will impact 191,000 farmers

Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh on Friday said the state government has decided to waive farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh, in an effort to give relief to over 1.91 lakh farmers.

During a meeting with officials of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) here, the minister asked the banks to present a proposal in this regard.

"Loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh taken by farmers till March 31, 2020 will be waived through one-time settlement," the minister said.

In 2021-22, the state government had announced waiver of crop loans up to Rs 50,000, he said.

"As per its promise, the state government had waived loans up to Rs 50,000 of more than 4.73 lakh farmers... The Jharkhand government has given an amount of over Rs 1,900 crore to banks," Patralekh said.

He also asked the bank officials to send a proposal to the state government to close accounts that have become non-performing assets (NPAs) so that the farmers can be debt-free.