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Siddaramaiah waives Rs 8,167-cr farm loan; relief for 22 lakh farmers

Agencies
June 21, 2017

Bengaluru, Jun 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday announced that the state will waive off farm loans up to Rs 50,000 which were taken till June 20, costing the state exchequer Rs 8,165 crore.siddaramaiah

Siddaramaiah made the surprise announcement in the Assembly, putting the Opposition on back foot, at least temporarily. The BJP, principal opposition party in the state, welcomed the move.

With this, Karnataka has become fourth state to announcement partial farm loan waiver after Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab.

This waiver would benefit about 22 lakh farmers across Karnataka. Karnataka was under severe drought for the last three years and the burden of repayment of loans was becoming unbearable to the farmers.

The BJP claimed that it was because of their constant campaign that the state government was pressurised to go for farm loan waiver. BS Yeddyurappa was planning to sit on a fast for three days in July, seeking a farm loan waiver.

Kodihalli Chandrashekar, president of Raitha Sangha said, “We welcome the move, but the CM should have waived another Rs 3000 crore which are under nationalized banks.”

While speaking on the floor of the house, Siddaramaiah challenged the BJP to convince the Central government to waive off the remaining loans in the nationalized banks.

On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced a total waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers (up to 5 acres) and a flat Rs 2 lakh relief for all other marginal farmers, irrespective of their loan amount.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also announced a farm loan waiver on June 4. He said the waiver will come into force by October 31, 2017, and will be restricted to small and marginal farmers with land holdings of five acres. Around 40 lakh farmers are estimated to benefit from the step.

Earlier, the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh had also approved waiver of farm loans up to Rs 1 lakh, fulfilling a major election promise made by the BJP. According to state government, the decision will benefit 2.25 crore farmers and is likely to cost the state exchequer Rs 36,000 crore.

However, the Centre has ruled out any waiver of farm loan and said it will adhere to fiscal targets. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Centre is not considering any such plan.

The government had in 2008 waived farm loan to the tune of Rs 74,000 crore.

The Centre, he said, will adhere to all fiscal targets including fiscal deficit. He said he would not comment on the loan waivers by states and had already made his position clear last week.

On June 12, Jaitley had said the Centre will not fund any of the loan waivers by states and they will have to find their own funds for doing so.

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News Network
May 7,2020

Mangaluru, May 7: The Dakshina Kannada District Muslim Okkoota has strongly condemned permit for opening of textile and footwear shops across the district at a time when the number of Covid-19 positive cases are on the rise.

In a press note here on Thursday, former Mayor and Okoota President Ashraf alleged that the permission to open the shops at a time when Eid-ul-Fitr was nearing would lead to rush in the shops in turn bringing in fear of spread of Covid-19. 

He expressed his resentment over the fact that the administration has neglected the appeal made by the Okkoota as well as the Qazi of Udupi against permitting textile shops during the lockdown period.

He warned that the administration, district in-charge Minister, MLA and MP themselves will be responsible in case of increased infection cases due to this decision.

The district in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary yesterday had announced that textile shops in the district can be opened from May 7.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 28: The Karnataka government on Saturday said that the state run Indira Canteens would provide food packets free of cost to the poor and needy in the wake of the lockdown, the government said here on Saturday.

The canteens would operate in three schedules -from 7:30 AM to 10 AM, 12:30 PM to 3 PM and 7:30 PM to 9 PM, the government said in a public announcement

During the scheduled hours, street side vendors, labourers and poor would be provided food free of cost.

After the cabinet meeting on Friday, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had said food packets would be provided to the poor and needy with the help of some organisations through the Canteens and had sought the help of everyone in this regard.

The State-sponsored, subsidised 'Indira Canteens' as of now serves breakfast at Rs five and lunch and dinner at Rs 10.

The government asked people availing the facility to maintain cleanliness at the canteen and staff who serve food to compulsorily use masks and hand gloves.

It also said soaps and sanitizers should be made available at the canteens.

The government also asked people to maintain a minimum distance of one metre while standing in queue and take all precautionary measures.

Earlier, a day after announcing that food would be provided free of cost through the canteens for daily wagers, Yediyurappa on March 24 had said it has been decided that the canteens will not be opened, after realizing that it was leading to crowding, which drew criticism.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 27: JD(S) leader and former Labour Minister K Amarnath Shetty passed away at a private hospital in Mangaluru on Monday morning. He was 80. Shetty was unwell for sometime, and was admitted to the hospital a few days ago, family sources said.

Amarnath Shetty, a trustee of Alva's Education Foundation (AEF), had joined politics in 1965.

He became the president of Paladka Gram Panchayat and soon was elected as MLA from Moodbdri constituency in 1983. He won the successive elections held in the same constituency in 1987 and 1994. He had served as Tourism and later as Labour Minister.

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