Rajasthan farm loan waiver a joke: BJP

Accusing Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of taking out a defunct order, the BJP questioned the loan waiver announced by the newly-inducted Congress government in the state. Former Rajasthan rural development minister Rajendra Rathore Thursday said the state government's decision to waive farm loans is an "illusion" and a "joke". He said the order on farm loan waiver was issued without the approval of a cabinet and without even constituting the cabinet.

"There is no file number on the order issued for farm loan waiver. The order should have been taken out by the finance department, but the chief minister's office bypassed it, which renders it defunct," Rathore told media persons in Jaipur, on Thursday.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had issued an order to waive off loans to the tune of Rs 2 lakh for 50 lakh farmers in the state in compliance with the promise made by the Congress in its election manifesto. Madhya Pradesh government was the first to take out an order waiving off loans of farmers.

Rathore questioned the figures quoted by the Gehlot government claiming the BJP government had already waived off loans in excess of Rs 8,000 crore. "Our loan waiver scheme has benefitted 28 lakh farmers already," Rathore said. "The government is mum on the timeline by which the loans waived would reflect in the accounts of the farmers, whereas in our scheme, farmers not only got relief from debt burden but have also applied for fresh loans," the BJP leader said.