Budget provision for farmers loan waiver inadequate:SP

New Delhi, Feb 29 (UNI) The Samajwadi Party today described as 'miserably inadequate'' the amount provided for loan waiver of farmers in the Union Budget for 2008-09.

''Though loan waiver is welcome, but three slabs provided by the Finance Minister would leave out half of the farmers,'' said Mr Mohan Singh, chief whip of the party in the Lok Sabha talking to reporters after presentation of the budget in Parliament.

He said that according to the Radhakrishnan Report, there was Rs 2, 50,000 debt burden on farmers, and there were 12 crore farmer families, which meant that only five crore families could benefit by the amount provided in the budget and the seven crore would still be left out.

Mr Singh said the budget had not come out with any solution of farmers problems in the real term.

The crisis faced by farmers and the agriculture in general was much graver than what the Finance Minister thinks as indicated byt his budget.

The Samajwadi Party Chief Whip, however, welcomed the concessions for senior citizens.

UNI NAZ RP AS1402