Patna, (Bihar Times): The Central government loan waiver scheme benefited only 5.13 lakh farmers of Bihar and the total amount waived is Rs 1,134 crore.
The announcement in this regard was made by Union finance minister, P Chidambaram, in his budget speech in February last. Though 5.13 lakh farmers have been benefited, amount wise the figure is not much, when compared to other states. In all the Centre has waived loans worth Rs 70,000 crore all over the country. The figure suggests that the farmers of Bihar took much smaller loan when compared to their counterparts elsewhere in the country.
The State Bank of India waived the largest amount to be followed by other commercial banks. The beneficiaries are no more in debt of banks, rather they are free to take fresh loans.
Reports say that farmers are rushing to take fresh loans from the banks. The process of issuing loan writ off certificates is already underway. The farmers are being handed over the certificate in person or are being sent through post.
