Congress MLA and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda demands rollback of 7% interest on farm loans
Chandigarh: Former
Haryana
chief minister and Congress MLA
Bhupinder Singh Hooda
on Tuesday expressed opposition to the central govt's decision to charge
7% interest
on
crop loans
and asked it to roll back the decision.
He said the previous Congress-led UPA govt took a historic decision to reduce the interest rate on crop loans from 11% to 4% across the country.
"This decision was taken on the recommendations of the committee of chief ministers headed by me.
Also, in Haryana, our govt completely abolished the interest on crop loans and made it zero, but now the BJP has increased it to 7%, which is a direct loot of farmers," he said.
The Centre had recently imposed a 7% interest rate on short-term crop loans through the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS). This applies to loans taken through
Kisan Credit Cards
(KCCs) up to Rs 3 lakh.
Responding to questions at his residence, Hooda said despite having the govt in both the state and the Centre, BJP could not get water for Haryana. "BJP's double engine govt has double-cheated the public. This time there was neither a shortage of water in Bhakra nor did Haryana demand additional water," he said.
He added that despite repeated demands, BJP could not ensure proper participation of Haryana in meetings of the Bhakra Beas Management Board.
"Now, since Haryana is sure to get water from May 21 (new water cycle), the govt is busy passing time by making baseless statements," he added.
He said this was the Congress had demanded a special session of the assembly to discuss the issue. "It should be clear who is responsible for the harm to Haryana, and an all-party delegation should also be sent to meet the Prime Minister," he said.
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