Waivers as the ‘default’ setting
The waiver funds are often treated as windfall gains by farmers - Balachandar L×
Loan waivers and elections appear to have become inseparable. A dangerous trend has been set
The Tamil Nadu government has once again set the cat among the pigeons by announcing a loan waiver. The latest waiver scheme covers short-term crop loans availed from co-operative institutions. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, who announced the scheme on February 5, was quick to action it as well, personally doling out the first few waiver certificates to beneficiary farmers last Saturday.
According to the scheme, the waivers, aggregating to ₹12,110.74 crore, which have been availed from cooperative institutions by more than 16.4 lakh farmers, will be waived off in toto – both interest and principal, with no attempt to be made to monetise any collateral provided. Further, the waiver will not discriminate between running loans in good credit order and those already in default.