Loan waiver to be met completely in second budget: HDK

Agencies
January 13, 2019

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has announced that he will fulfill his Rs 46,000-crore loan waiver commitment made to farmers "completely" in the Congress-JDS coalition government's second budget that he is scheduled to present on February 8.

The farm loan waiver scheme would be implemented in one stroke with required allocation in the budget instead of completing the process in four stages as was planned earlier, he said, as he took on the state and national BJP leadership for their relentless attack on him on the issue.

Kumaraswamy has come in the line of fire of BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been mocking the scheme, saying it had only offered a "lollipop" for an insignificant number of farmers.

The JDS leader was also critical of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh for his reported comment at the BJP National Convention meet in New Delhi on Friday that the state government had promised waiver but was issuing notice to farmers for loan recovery.

Kumaraswamy said notices were being issued by nationalised banks that come under the central government.

"This shows the mean mentality of BJP leaders. This shows how lightly they have taken the issue of solving farmers' worries."

"...February 8. I will present a new budget of 2019-20. We have announced as a cabinet decision that loan waiver will be in four stages, we will not take it to four stages," Kumaraswamy told PTI in an interview.

"We are working out on that. In the coming budget I will be clearing the complete loan waiver. I will not take four years. I want to bring it to the notice of central BJP leaders -- it is not lollipop," he said.

Kumaraswamy asserted that it would be done without violating the fiscal responsibility.

"If an elected government makes up its mind, without violating fiscal responsibility, how it can succeed in implementing its programmes and commitment...I am going to prove it," he said.

"...Without violating fiscal responsibility Act… I'm clearing it completely with allocation for it. In the next financial year, the money that will be released will clear the Rs 46,000 crore loan waiver commitment made," he added.

Seeking to implement a key poll promise of the JDS, the Kumaraswamy government had announced over Rs 46,000-crore loan waiver scheme in July. But it has been bogged down by several issues, particularly relating to nationalised banks.

While defending the time taken in implementing loan waiver, the chief minister said, the state's scheme would become a model for other states in the days to come.

"Today in front of me is Rs 46,000 crore farm loan from nationalized and cooperative banks. I have created a separate cell for this and have appointed an IAS officer to work on this for 24 hours. CMO- my office is monitoring it every day. Our officials are working effectively so that the loan waiver reaches our farmers," he said.

He said guidelines for implementation of farm loan waiver scheme by his government would become a model for any government in future that decides to waive loans.

Noting that till January 11, loan waiver has reached 1,70,000 farmers for which about Rs 900 crore money has been released, he highlighted that in the budget presented in July after coming to power, Rs 9,000 crore was already allocated for loan waiver in the first year.

"By January 31, about Rs 11-12 lakh farmers will get the loan waive benefit," he said, as he pointed out there was much longer delay by various state governments in the past, while it was just seven months since he is in power.

"UPA government had announced about Rs 70,000 crore loan waiver, you can crosscheck how long it took for the money to reach. Many states which came to power before me and announced waiver like -- Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh- you can check how much money has gone till now. It's been seven months for me," he added.

Noting that discussions were on with nationalised banks, and the government was expecting to get some relaxation in the backdrop of one-time settlement plan, he said, out of Rs 9,500 crore loan waiver details of cooperative banks that the state has, some of them were bogus claims.

"With the guidelines that we have, where certain documents need to be submitted, those misusing will be eliminated," he said.

Kumaraswamy said that implementation of farm loan waiver scheme was his "biggest achievement" so far, while highlighting the difficulties in a coalition setup.

Explaining the situation he was in when he assumed office, he said he had to continue implementation of programmes of the previous Siddaramaiah government and face BJP criticism that he had not waived loan within 24 hours of coming to power as promised in the JDS manifesto.

Listing out programmes under implementation like "Badavara Bandhu", a scheme to disburse interest-free loans to street vendors and small traders, and the Israel model of farming, Kumaraswamy said, "I have other plans too for the next budget."

Comments

Suresh
 - 
Sunday, 13 Jan 2019

Forget small small issues made by oppurtunists and bjp people. Concentrate on your service. People with you HDK. You will complete your term

Sandesh Shetty
 - 
Sunday, 13 Jan 2019

HDK knew what to be done for people. All the best

Mohan
 - 
Sunday, 13 Jan 2019

HDK doing great. Feku just boasting and blabbering. 

Vinod
 - 
Sunday, 13 Jan 2019

Kamal nath did loan waiving. Then what complication with other govts for doing the same

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News Network
February 12,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 12: Mohammed Nalapad, son of Karnataka Congress MLA NA Harris, who allegedly rammed his sports car into vehicles and a kiosk, injuring 4, on Bellary road in Bengaluru on February 9, said that he was not in the car which met with the accident.

Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Ravikante Gowda told media, "Mohammed Nalapad appeared before the investigating officer today. He was arrested following interrogation. We are collecting evidence and will file a charge sheet shortly."

Nalapad is out on bail, in connection with the matter where he had assaulted a man in a pub in Bengaluru in 2018.

"I was not in the car which met with accident. I was travelling in a Lamborghini car which was moving ahead of the car. However, I called people to rescue the victims. We took them to the hospital and paid their hospital bill," said Mohammed Nalapad.

Further, details are awaited

Also Read: MLA N A Harris’ son Nalapad, out on bail, now crashes his luxury Bentley car, injures 4

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Media Release
April 16,2020

Dammam: President of Indian Social Forum, Eastern Province Mr.Wasim Rabbani urged immediate intervention of Indian government to help Non Residential Indians who are in trouble due to corona pandemic in Saudi Arabia.

He said in a press rease that expatriate Indians are in concern  as number of corona infected people and  deaths are increasing in danger level.

Hea said, "the Saudi health minister's statement a few days ago indicates that the situation in Saudi needs to be taken more seriously with precautionary methods. There are concerns among expatriates because the number of people infected with the coronavirus and the number of deaths reported in various provinces are increasing at an alarming rate."

"Saudi Government and Health Ministry are taking excellent precautionary measures, however, in the coming days expect to see the number of cases to increase in Saudi Arabia. The Indian government needs to take diplomatic and immediate intervention to ensure the treatment of Indian expatriates considering the number of effected people increasing", He said.

He also urged that the Embassy and the Government of India should ensure qaurantiane faculty for Indian expatriates and arrange special low cost flights to bring back expatriates who would like to return home country.

" Government of India and Indian embassy need to intervene immediately to ensure that the quarantine system is in place for Indian expatriates as the facilities in the rooms where the residents are staying together are very limited. There should also be a mechanism to organize low-cost flight services for expatriates who are ready to go home. The government system should also be able to accommodate the expatriates in special quarantine areas in hometown as soon they arrive in India", he urged.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Cab aggregators are once again in news for the wrong reasons after an Ola cab driver misbehaved with a 34-year-old woman passenger and even threatened to kill her when she raised an alarm.

But what followed was worse. The woman, a software engineer, immediately called the Ola emergency number following which they asked her to check if the driver was drunk. She later pressed the emergency button on the Ola app but received a message asking her to dial 100. After the aggregator failed to help her, she said she was lucky to be saved by the public.

Reacting to the incident, an Ola spokesperson said, “We regret the unfortunate incident and have immediately terminated the driver-partner from the platform upon receiving the complaint.”

Shruthi G (name changed), an employee at a software company at Bagmane Tech Park in Mahadevapura, booked an Ola cab after her work in the evening of January 3. She booked pick-up stops at two locations as she had to pick her four-year-old daughter from the day-care centre, which is 2 km away from her house.

However, around 6.22 pm, when the cab reached Malleshpalya near Kids Castle, the driver did not stop the vehicle. He asked her to get down at the last drop location. She told him to stop and tried to open the doors but he locked the doors, insisting that she sit in the car. When she resisted, he held her hands and abused her; he even threatened to kill her if she raised an alarm.

The victim said she pressed the emergency button on the app twice but only got a message advising her to call the police.

When she called the Ola emergency number, the person at the other end asked about her condition and to check whether the driver was drunk. They called back after one-and-a-half hours when she was filing a complaint at the police station.

“Ola did not make any efforts to reach out to the police or do anything to track my location and help me in that situation,” she said.

The victim called 100 and the staffer at the control room asked her which area she was in. Since she was familiar with the area, Shruthi was able to give her location.

“First they told me that the area comes under Baiyappanahalli. Later, they said it comes under HAL. Finally, they figured out the location. It took 20 minutes for the police to reach the spot,” she said.

What saved Shruti was her sheer instinct and luck. Alone in the cab, she started raising an alarm. Luckily, commuters in the other vehicles next to the cab noticed her screaming for help and stopped the driver.

“If this is the kind of security Ola provides its customer, it is very questionable,” she said. “If we have to really call the police during an emergency then why they put out the number and emergency button, it’s a waste of time during that crucial situation. If they directly told us to dial 100 during an emergency, it will save time. Lakhs of commuters take Ola cabs thinking it is safe but they have no mechanism to check their drivers and track their customers in danger.”

Baiyappanahalli police said the accused Bhimashankar Malged was arrested and remanded in judicial custody following the complaint.

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