Not by waivers alone

A veritable contagion of farm loan waivers seems to be upon us. On April 4, the new Uttar Pradesh government forgave loans of up to Rs 1 lakh per farmer, as it had promised in its election manifesto. The same day, the Madras High Court ordered Tamil Nadu, which had earlier announced a similar measure for small farmers’ loans from co-operatives, to extend that relief to all farmers. Punjab will act any day now. The Maharashtra chief minister has telegraphed his intent to do so as well. Karnataka cannot be far behind in view of the imminence of state elections.