MP to provide loans to farmers at 1 per cent interest rate

Bhopal, Jan 15 (PTI) In the wake of reports of farmerscommitting suicides in Madhya Pradesh due to crop failure andmounting debts, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan todayannounced that the state will give loans to farmers at one percent interest rate from next fiscal.

"Madhya Pradesh will be the first state in the country toprovide loans to farmers at one per cent interest rate fromthe next financial year," Chouhan said in a meeting withfarmers'' delegation at his residence here.

The Chief Minister also announced that from now on,compensation will be given "crop-wise".

For instance, for tuar and vegetables, the farmers willget a compensation of Rs 11,000 per hectare if crop isdamaged, while for a fruit-bearing tree, it will be Rs 350apiece.

The government has also decided to waive interest onloans to farmers for the current year, while it will be threeper cent on the existing loans from the next year, he said.

As to the loans given by unlicensed money-lenders, hesaid that those who try to recover dues forcibly from thefarmers will be "sent to jail".

The government is going to fix the rate of interest forthe loans offered by the licenced money-lenders.