Sitaram Meena, a 75-year-old farmer in Rajasthan’s Nimehda, stands alone in his farmland along with his son. He had taken a bank loan in 2017, which now amounts to Rs 22 lakh. He had to mortgage his 44 bighas of land to get the loan from Allahabad Bank.
The Congress in Rajasthan, before coming to power in 2018, had promised that loans of farmers would be waived in the desert state. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi went to the extent of saying that if voted to power, the party would waive farmers’ debt in 10 days’ time.
Now, more than three years have passed since Ashok Gehlot took oath as chief minister. Meena and his son, Mangilal, who has been managing finances for his septuagenarian father, say they have no hope left that the government would fulfill its main pre-poll promise of farm loan waiver.
“We had taken a loan of Rs 22 lakh in 2017. The bank requires that in five years time, the loan has to be either renewed or paid in full. Today, our land is mortgaged and we have no hope that the government will waive the loan,” Sitaram Meena told India Today.
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His son Mangilal detailed that the loan was required to purchase agricultural equipments for drilling etc, as Nimhera, on the outskirts of Jaipur, is afflicted by low level water level, and irrigation requires expensive equipment.
“We have to pay interest on the loan every six months. We fear that even our land could be seized and auctioned off if we do not pay the loan. We have no hope left in the Gehlot government. We do not think that it will wave our loan,” said Mangilal.
After the incident of a farmer’s land in Dausa district being auctioned last week, several farmers in the state are anxious that the same fate might be met out to them.
Jagdish, a 53-year-old farmer in Nimhera, took a loan of Rs 1.8 lakh from Marudhara Gramin Bank in 2018 at an interest rate of 12 per cent, mortgaging his 4 bighas of agricultural land. But now, after more than three years have passed, he rues his decision given the low agricultural yield and the pressure to pay off his loan.
“Politicians come when they want to vote from us. Otherwise, there is no one to look at our plight. The Congress, so far, has not fulfilled its promise and we have no hope left that it ever will. I somehow pay the interest on the loan by selling belongings,” Jagdish Meena said.
The Congress had claimed that loan up to Rs 2 lakh will be waived. However, several farmers India Today spoke to claimed that so far, no loan waiver has happened as far as they are concerned.
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In Ramgarh Pachwara, Dausa district, scores of farmers had received notices from government bank threatening action like seizure and auction of their land due to non payment of dues on the debt taken by them.
The body of a farmer, Kajod Meena, was found in his field two months ago. There have been that he died by suicide after being pressured by the government bank to pay off his loan.
“The farmer committed suicide as he was under pressure to pay his debt,” Dr Kirodi Lal Meena, BJP MP, said.
Kajod’s land was auctioned off by the government bank two days ago. After much condemnation from the local farmer groups, who claimed that the auction happened at a much lower rate than the DLC rate, the auction was canceled at the behest of the district administration.
“This land was our only hope but it was auctioned off. We do not have the money to pay the debt now. What will we do except die by suicide,” bemoaned Pappu Meena, son of farmer Kajod Meena.
After the land of Kajod Meena was auctioned off by the local government bank allegedly at Rs 46 lakh — for a land whose market rate is estimated to be around Rs 1.7 crore — farmers in Dausa have been on the warpath.
After there was much hue and cry over the issue, the Gehlot government announced that it had put a stop on auction of farmers’ lands in the entire state. However, affected farmers still feel that the sword of seizure of their land hangs over their head in the absence of the state not waiving their outstanding loans.
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Jagdish Meena, a farmer in his sixties, received a notice from the RMG Bank, stating that he had not been paying his dues on the loan. He claims that he has little money to pay his dues and due to scarcity of water, the crop yield has been extremely low.
“The bank manager paid me a visit and said that I have to pair pay my dues. I mentioned that I do not have the money but he mentioned that the bank does not know anything about that and the money has to be paid. I had to sell jewellery to pay the bank dues of Rs 65,000, but another notice has arrived asking to pay Rs 1 lakh in February. I do not have the money for that,” Jagdish Meena.
Ram Sahay Meena, another farmer who had taken loan of Rs 2 lakh from RMG bank, passed away recently. Now, the onus of paying the loan is on his son.
The son has been running from pillar to post seeking relief, claiming that the bank has exorbitantly increased the interest rate and added another Rs 1 lakh in a period of five months to the outstanding figure. He does not have the money to pay the inflated sum.
“The bank dues were around Rs 1,95,000 rupees but in 5 months’ time, the bank levied exorbitant interest and the amount increased to around Rs 2,90,000. I visited the bank to talk to the manager but he was unwilling to listen to me. I was arbitrarily told that whatever is mentioned in the notice is the correct amount and I was not informed as to how the amount had increased to such an extent,” Ram Sahay Meena told India Today.
Several farmers mentioned that they had believed that the promise of farm loan waiver made by the Congress before coming to power would be fulfilled, but that has yet to happen. They claimed that they had not paid their installations as they believed that the loan will be waived. But when the loan amount increased, they started receiving notices. Now, they are afarid that their land may be seized and auctioned, taking away their livelihood.