Vijayendra Seeks ₹5 Lakh Farm Loan Waiver, Higher Drought Relief in Karnataka

BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra on Wednesday pressed the Karnataka government to extend relief to farmers reeling from severe drought, demanding a waiver of crop loans of up to ₹5 lakh.

Raising the issue in the Legislative Assembly and later speaking to reporters, he also sought compensation of ₹50,000 per hectare for crop losses and an increase in the milk incentive from ₹5 to ₹8 per litre.

Citing the farm loan waiver rolled out by the Maharashtra government, he urged Karnataka to adopt a comparable measure. He further asked the State government to clear pending procurement payments owed to farmers who had supplied maize.

On rural infrastructure, Mr. Vijayendra called for a regular three-phase power supply and said the government should purchase power if required to guarantee uninterrupted supply. He noted that power could earlier have been bought at ₹10-11 a unit had an agreement been signed, but now costs ₹14-15 a unit.

The BJP leader claimed that 937 farmers had died by suicide in Karnataka this year following crop losses, including 294 in Kalaburagi district.

Referring to the BJP's 'Ballari Chalo' padayatra earlier this month, he said farmers had flagged incomplete irrigation projects in the Kalyana Karnataka and Kittur Karnataka regions.

Mr. Vijayendra also questioned the criteria used by the State government to declare taluks drought-hit, alleging that some constituencies represented by BJP MLAs had been left out.

He further asked how the government would fund the ₹32,000 crore development projects announced by Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar during his recent Mangaluru visit, pointing out that the Finance Department had indicated the State had no resources for new schemes.