Rude shock: 1 Paisa relief for Mathura farmer's Rs 1.5 lakh loan

AGRA: In a rude shock, Mathura-based farmer received 1 paisa waiver on his outstanding farm loan of Rs 1.5 lakhs.

Chhiddi, a marginal farmer of Govardhan Tehsil in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district, took a crop loan of Rs 1.5 lakhs through Kisan credit six years ago. He owned only 5 bighas of land.

The certificate, handed over by the district administration, gave a waiver of just 1 paisa on his outstanding loan.

This government is making fun of us farmers," Chhiddi told TOI, further adding that he doesn't know if this is a mistake by the bank or reality.

Chhiddi claimed that others who had taken similar loans had received a full waiver.

Alleging corruption, Chhiddi and his son alleged that this has happened to those farmers who refused to pay bribes to government and its officers.

According to Mathura District Magistrate Arvind Mallapa, the error could be due to "technical glitches" in the system and "Dual" accounts issue.

Mallapa said farmers whose account is linked with Aadhaar received the loan waiver in the first phase. However, Chhiddhi has two accounts. The account linked with Aadhaar had an outstanding interest loan balance of 1 paisa, which was paid.

He further assured that Chhiddi will get the loan waiver benefit in next phase of the scheme which starts from September 27.

Nearly 86 lakh farmers across UP will benefit from the loan-waiver schemes in three phases.

In Mathura, 15,806 farmers benefited in the first phase as Rs 122 crore has been waived off.

Recently, in Etawah, the government handed over the certificate of waiving off 19 paisa to another farmer.