K'taka seeks Rs 1800 cr reimbursement on state's farm loan waiver

Bangalore, Jul 2 (UNI) State will seek reimbursement of Rs 1800 crore, paid to cooperative banks, which wrote off farm loans during the previous JD(S)-BJP coalition regime, Cooperation Minister Laxman Savadi said today.

Speaking to newsmen here today he said the coalition had written off farm loans up to Rs 25,000.

"As the state government had already implemented the farmer's loan write off, the UPA government's Rs 71,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme did not bring much benefits to the farmers in the state.

"About 80 per cent of state farmers remained outside the orbit of Union Government's farm loan waiver scheme" the Minister said.

The minister said about Rs 3500 crore farm loan had been extended to farmers for 2008-09 through cooperative institutions at a low rate of four per cent interest.

"The state government has decided to slash interest rate further from four to three per cent. This would be announced by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa during Monsoon session of the state legislature" he said.

The minister said that even though cooperative movement in Karantaka was 100 years old, most of the villages still did not have access to cooperative institutions.

"I have issued directions to this department to bring under all those villages which were still remained deprived from cooperative movement," he said.

Replying to questions the minister said that there were divergent opinions on the implementation of the Vaidyanathan Committee on Cooperative movement, by various cooperative institutions.

UNI MV RS GM1843