MASSIVE relief for Farmers: 'Modi Govt to announce Rs. 4000/acre direct transfer, crop loan at 0% interest', say sources

As per sources, Modi government has undertaken a step to relieve the farmers of the country. 

According to the sources, the Centre will announce Rs. 4000 crore per acre direct transfer and a crop loan at 0% for them.

This two-fold relief is known to cost a whopping 2.3 lakh crores. Sources further inform that Rs 50,000 per hector to be capped at Rs. 1 lakh per farmer. 

The government has called for a quick-fire meeting, that is supposedly being held on Thursday and the initiative is known to be imposed within the next seven days. A complete zero interest loan will be provided to the farmers and the government will reportedly take this step forward before the Budget. 

READ| WATCH: As Congress Goes On Farm Loan-waiver Spree, Here's BJP Chief Amit Shah's View

Dubbing the loan waivers announced by the Congress governments as "political stunts", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that a majority of farmers do not benefit from these "misleading" announcements as only a few of them take loans from banks.

In an interview to ANI, he said the solution to the farmers' problems is to empower them and his government is committed to this. "These are political stunts," Modi asserted.

He recently described the loan waivers announced by the Congress governments in states like Madhya Pradesh as "lollipops".

Asked why he described the announcements as "lollipops", the Prime Minister said: "To say a lie and mislead, that is what I called lollipop. Like saying that we have waived all farm loans. The truth is that nothing like that has happened... They should not mislead... And particularly a responsible political party should never do it."

Explaining further, he said there is a very small segment of farmers who take loans from banks while a majority of them take loans from money lenders. "(So) when governments make such announcements (of loan waivers), those farmers ( who take loans from money lenders) do not become beneficiaries of the waivers. The farmers who are dying are out of the purview of such schemes," Modi elaborated.

Responding to criticism that his government has been insensitive to the farmers' woes, he said, "If loan waiver helps, it should be definitely done. But it has been done by earlier governments also. Since (former Deputy Prime Minister) Devi Lal's time (in 1989-1991), loan waiver was done."

READ| PM MODI INTERVIEW | Loan Waivers Do Not Benefit Majority Of Farmers: PM