Centre to give interest-free loans to farmers: Ram Vilas Paswan

The Centre has decided to raise Rs 6,000 crore to provide interest-free loans to farmers so that they do not have to go to moneylenders and fall into debt traps, Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan on Thursday said.

Under the proposed farm loan disbursal mechanism, the farmers will get loan without paying interest which will be borne by the central government, the Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister said here.

Paswan was addressing a press conference to showcase the NDA government's achievements in its one year in office.

Defending the controversial Land Acquisition Bill, he said the proposed legislation was a boon for the people.

The landowners and the people at large stood to gain from the bill as those selling the land will get payment four times more than its market value and the land will be put to use for setting up industrial units for generating employment, he said.

On absence of a consent clause in the bill, he said it was not a new thing as the bill passed during the UPA rule too did not have such a provision.

Rubbishing the allegation of the Narendra Modi-government being 'anti-poor' and 'pro-corporate', he said pro-poor schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra Bank and Atal Pension

Yojana were launched for the poor people of the country.