The Hindu Business Line : Kerala to waive co-op farm loans in Wayanad dist

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan. 23 The Kerala Cabinet has decided to write off the loans taken by small farmers from cooperative banks in the distressed Wayanad district.

The Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, told newspersons after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the relief would be available to small farmers owning up to one acre of land.

The waiver will be for loans up to Rs 25,000 and taken before June 2006.

Mr Achuthanandan said that the decision was taken on the recommendation of the State Debt Relief Commission and the waiver would cost the State exchequer around Rs 60 crore.

The commission had taken up the case of Wayanad on a priority basis as the district had witnessed a spate of suicides by farmers in the past.

The Chief Minister said that the Government was awaiting the commission’s reports on other distressed regions like Palakkad and Kuttanad and it would take suitable measures as soon as they were made available.

CBI probe

The Cabinet also decided to seek a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the Rs. 760-crore expansion and modernisation plan for the state-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) approved by the previous United Democratic Front (UDF) government.

Mr Achuthanandan said the cost of the scheme had now escalated to around Rs. 1,115 crore and it was bound to result in huge financial loss to the State Government.

The four projects conceived in this respect would be cancelled and a CBI probe ordered as foreign companies were involved, he added.

More Stories on : Farm credit | Co-operatives | Kerala

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