A day after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel expressed his subtle disapproval of farm loan waivers, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not only welcomed the Uttar Pradesh government's decision to write off agricultural debt worth Rs 36,359 crore, but also questioned moves to recover farm loan dues in Haryana.
"Banking is a commercial enterprise, led by profit motive. Patel spoke with a banker's perspective. Governments need to take a humane approach. When farmers are committing suicide over indebtedness, then governments have to think of solutions in human terms, and humanitarian considerations," the Hindu quoted BJP Kisan Morcha chief Virendra Singh Mast as saying on Friday.
As if in tandem, the BJP government in Haryana questioned measures by banks to recover loans from farmers by putting up posters of defaulters at various locations in the state in a "name and shame" exercise, inviting the wrath of senior ministers.
"Farmers always abide by the concept of give and take. By pasting their posters and getting kukri (auction) of land hurt their self-respect. We are all supporters of the ideology of Sir Chhotu Ram. To save farmers from mental harassment, practices like pasting of posters and kukri should be stopped immediately," state agriculture minister OP Dhankar, wrote to finance minister Captain Abhimanyu, according to a report in the Indian Express on Saturday. Overall, about 15 lakh families engaged in agriculture have taken loans in the state, the daily added.
On Thursday, Patel, in his press conference after the end of the two-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), had said: ""Farm loan waiver undermines honest credit culture, impacts credit discipline," Patel said after the conclusion of the first two-day meeting of the MPC meeting.
On Tuesday (April 4), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced waiver of Rs 30,729 crore in crop loans and Rs 5,630 crore loans taken by about seven lakh farmers that have since turned non-recoverable.
"The amount waived amounts to about 10 per cent of Uttar Pradesh government's estimated revenues for FY2017 at Rs 3,40,255.24 crore, going by a rough calculation by SBI economist Soumya Kanta Ghosh.
Given that the government was keen on fulfilling its poll promise, Ghosh had warned of its consequences much earlier. "This will definitely cause some amount of stress for the state's fiscal arithmetic in the coming year. The incumbent government in UP has to go beyond the traditional solutions and find innovative ways of adding to its revenues," he wrote in his update on SBI Ecoflash on March 20, 2017.
All the southern states — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are facing drought due to inadequate rainfall last year, triggering demands for writing off loans, besides seeking financial assistance from the Centre.
Last month, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to write off 50 percent of Rs 42,329 crore agricultural loans given by commercial lenders and regional rural banks (RRBs) to farmers in the state.
Farmers from the southern state of Tamil Nadu pose half shaved during a protest demanding a drought-relief package from the federal government, in New Delhi, India April 3, 2017.Reuters file 
People fill their jerry cans from a water tanker sent by Yogoda Satsanga Math to a drought hit village on the outskirts of Ranchi on May 12, 2016.IANS
