Not ready for rabi

Banks hesitate in lending to farmers in Uttar Pradesh; fertilizers and seeds in short supply

Farmers in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh know at least one person they can count on in times of doubt or crisis. Manoj Kumar, 30, has been working with farmers for eight years, travelling to villages, discussing their problems, advising them on matters of farming and finance. These days he is getting lots of calls from farmers in distress. The wheat-sowing season is at hand but farmers are finding it tough to get cash, fertilizers and seeds.

Seven farmers killed themselves in Mahoba in October, and some of them were among those whose debts were waived by the centre, said Kumar, coordinator of the Mahoba chapter of Bun- delkhand Aapda Nivarak Manch, an association of ngo s, farmer groups and civil society organizations. Parmanad Khushwaha, 45, burnt himself at night.He was unable to get a loan from either banks or moneylenders, so he could not buy fertilizer and seeds for his three- hectare (ha) farm in Srinagar village. Narendra Kumar, 40, owned 2 ha in Chandauli village and was regularly repaying loans, but this year he got no money to buy fertilizer. He consumed pesticide. So did Munna Lal Richaria, 55, of Panwari block and Pyare Lal, 45, of Mahoba block. Some of these cases were reported in the media, though Mahoba's Superintendent of Police R P Singh and District Magistrate V V Pant said they had no knowledge of the suicides.

In neighbouring Hamirpur district, the police lathicharged farmers protesting shortage of fertilizers and seeds on October 16. In Lalitpur district, cooperative societies have refused to give fertilizers and seeds even to those with cash unless they repaid their outstanding dues. These farmers have no option but to turn to the black market.

Conditions are particularly distressing in southwestern Uttar Pradesh, part of the Bundelkhand region, where exc ess rains this monsoon destroyed crops. This came after four years of drought-like conditions in this semi-arid plateau. Waterlogged fields meant yet another wasted year and those who managed to sow pulses lost them to rains.

Victims of loan waiver
Just like the monsoon, Rs 72,000-crore loan -waiver scheme of the centre has not served the farmer. The government claimed it would salvage the farmer by making credit easily available. What is happening is quite the opposite. Banks are hesitant to lend money to farmers. They suspect the waiver will encourage more farmers to default.

Some officials in banks' rural branches in Baghpat district did admit on the condition of anonymity that there was hesitation among bankers to lend. They said the banks were scrutinizing applicants' land records and credibility even more carefully. "If a farmer is a habitual defaulter, we have tried to steer clear of him. We are slightly lenient to those who have been somewhat regular. But the general sentiment is that of hesitation and restraint," said the field officer of a Syndicate Bank branch in Baghpat.

Soon after the loan waiver was announced, economists, banks and consultancy agencies had predicted this situation. Associate director of consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, Robin Roy, had warned that the waiver would vitiate the credit culture and make loan recovery difficult. The firm does consultancy for private banks.

The scheme has vitiated the credit culture in more ways than one. In most parts of western Uttar Pradesh, the beneficiaries have not yet received loan waiver certificates they need for taking further loans. Inder Singh of Kanhari Kala village in Lalitpur has not received confirmation of his loan waiver. "No one in Punjab National Bank is ready to talk about the certificate.