Chandigarh, The Haryana Assembly was informed on Wednesday that the amount of agriculture loan lying outstanding towards more than 27 lakh farmers in the state stood at Rs 60,060 crore. Raising the matter during Question Hour in the state Assembly, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA Aditya Devi Lal said, “Is there any agriculture loan lying outstanding towards the farmers of the state at present? If so, please provide the extent of the total outstanding amount together with the number of farmers and district-wise details.”
In response, Cooperation Minister Arvind Sharma informed the House that the “amount of agriculture loan outstanding as of December 31, 2024, was Rs 60,060 crore against 27,71,676 farmers”. Among the districts, the outstanding loan in Sirsa was Rs 6,102 crore against 2,07,517 farmers, while in Hisar it was Rs 5,873 against 2,68,227 farmers, Sharma said.
However, in the urbanised districts such as Gurugram and Faridabad, the outstanding amount stood at Rs 842 crore and Rs 533 crore, respectively, he added.
Asking a supplementary question, Lal sought to know what measures the government had taken over the past 11 years to bring the farmers out of debt.
“Of the 27 lakh farmers, how many benefited from government policies,” the INLD member asked.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini informed the House that crop loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh are given to the farmers through the HARC Bank and other cooperative banks at an interest rate of 7 per cent, of which the Haryana government bears 4 per cent while the Centre covers 3 per cent.
In rotation, the farmers regularly keep borrowing from banks and keep repaying too in due course of time, Saini said.
The farmers use tractors, cultivators, harvesters, land levelling and other agricultural tools for which they take medium-term loans which they repay, the chief minister said.
Saini also touched upon the various initiatives taken by the government for the farmers’ welfare in Haryana.
Under the ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat’ scheme, farmers will now receive an incentive of Rs 8,000 per acre for switching from paddy to alternative crops, marking an increase from the previous sum of Rs 7,000 per acre.
