Facing a difficult situation on the waiver of farmers’ debts, the Congress government in Rajasthan on Thursday stopped the auction of agricultural land belonging to farmers who failed to repay the loans obtained from commercial banks functioning under the control of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The issue had taken a political turn after the banks started serving notices on the defaulting farmers.
Though the State government had offered to get the loans disbursed by nationalised and commercial banks waived through a one-time scheme, the banks initiated action for land attachment and auction under the Rajasthan Agricultural Credit Operations (Removal of Difficulties) Act, 1974. A large number of defaulting farmers in several districts have received notices, besides facing pressure to make settlement with banks.
