The biggest farm loan waiver in India's history to win over the rural masses may not have struck a chord with farmers in Punjab and Haryana.
Or so Finance Minister P Chidambaram may have discovered on his maiden visit to the states to monitor the preparedness of the banks to implement the scheme.
The basic issue was that these farmers did not need loan waivers; they generally repaid their debts on time. Instead, they wanted to tell Chidambaram about how higher diesel prices, the dwindling water table and poor quality of water hampered their per capita productivity.
Part of their dissatisfaction might have had to do with the language barrier. Farmers called by the bank branch heads to meet the finance minister found it difficult to communicate with someone who could not follow their language.
That the vast majority of farmers in this region will not benefit significantly can be seen from the evidence that those entitled to waivers formed a minuscule portion of the farm borrowers in bank branches the finance minister visited.
"Since the deadline for information is still some time away, we are in the process of collating state-wide data," said a senior executive of Punjab National Bank, which is the convener of the state-level banker's committee. "The default is much less in this part of the country and farmers have been repaying their debt," he added.
According to the farmers from villages near the Shabhu branch of the Malwa Gramin Bank, the loan waiver has rewarded recalcitrant borrowers. "We should also be given some incentive like low interest rate for timely repayment," said Harmeet Singh, who has a three-acre farm in Ukhsi Kailaspur in Patiala district and had borrowed Rs 1.5 lakh from Malwa Gramin Bank.
"This package is like a medicine for the sick children of a family. Those who are healthy, I am happy for them," Chidambram said.
Farmers are not so happy, however. "This might set a bad precedent for those who follow the guidelines of good banking," said Lakhbir Singh of Marzapur.
Even the senior bank officials present there tacitly agreed that it takes time to discipline the recovery system after such waivers.
The visit to Punjab and Haryana is part of the finance minister's plan to travel to the hinterland of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa and Bihar to get a first-hand information on the scheme at the grassroots level.
Overall, the finance minister was satisfied with the preparations of the bank branches in terms of mobilisation of records, bankers' understanding of the schemes and the required documentation.
The banks are supposed to compile the information on eligible farmers by June 20 and display these lists together with the total debt relief by June 30.
The banks have appointed one grievance officer after every 40 branches to address to farmers' complaints.
The finance minister assured the farmers present at the bank branches that every deserving farmer would get his due.
"There is no 31st in June and every farmer eligible farmer can check his name on the list on June 30 and apply to the grievance redressal officer within 15 days," he told them.
The finance minister and his officials were undoubtedly sincere; they have left no stone unturned for the speedy and accurate implementation of the scheme.
In spite of that, the small and marginal farmers in Punjab and Haryana were a disheartened lot today.
