Farmers in Jharkhand to get loans at 1pc interest rate

Between the ongoing farmer protests, the Jharkhand cabinet on Tuesday has given the nod to provide farmers of the state loans at the rate of one percent.

Jharkhand Cabinet Secretary S.S. Meena told IANS reporters,

Jharkhand cabinet has given its approval to provide a loan at a rate of one percent to farmers taken under Kisan Credit Card and this will be applicable if the loan is paid back in one year.

At present, farmers in the state get loans at the rate of four percent. The state cabinet has made a provision of Rs 40 crore for this and the government will bear three percent loan interest. The decision was taken after one farmer allegedly committed suicide due to the burden of loans. Another important decision taken by the state cabinet is that only a token of Re 1 will be charged from women for registry of properties up to the value of Rs 50 lakh. But this facility can only be availed once.

In a report by Hindustan times, Additional chief secretary (finance) Amit Khare said,

Our government has decided to give additional 3 percent interest subvention on the total interest, bringing down the interest to just one percent. This exercise would cast the state exchequer an additional burden of Rs 40 crore. The offer would give relief to those farmers as well who had taken loan last year and were desirous of returning the loan within the fresh deadline.

Also read: Yogi Adityanath govt announces biggest farm loan waiver scheme worth Rs 36,000cr

The state has over 39 lakh farmers who procure farm loans under Kisan Credit Card. Around 15 lakh farmers owe around Rs 5,700 crore to different banks in the state. Suffering from adverse climate condition and droughts, the plight of Jharkhand farmers dates back to 16 years.

Do you have an interesting story to share? Please write to us at [email protected]. To stay updated with more positive news, please connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.