'BSY, Shobha should make noise in LS for loan waiver'

 Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday took exception to the Opposition BJP for demanding farm loan waiver and asked the party leaders to stage a dharna in Delhi demanding this from the Centre.

Addressing reporters after presenting the 2017-18 budget, he said, “Commercial banks have extended farm loans to the tune of Rs 42,000 crore, whereas cooperative societies have given Rs 10,500 crore. Hence, the Centre has more responsibility in this regard,” he added.

BJP leaders B S Yeddyurappa and Shobha Karandlaje should take it up in Parliament. They should fight it out with the Centre for this purpose. “The Centre has not responded to my request to waive 50% of farm loans. Even today, I will stand by my decision. I am ready to waive the loan if the Centre also agrees to do so,” he said, adding that his government allocated funds for implementing loan waiver scheme announced by Jagadish Shettar in 2013 when he was the chief minister.

He claimed that he has allocated more money for agriculture and irrigation sectors in the last four years compared to the five-year rule of BJP. Though the BJP governments presented separate agriculture budgets in the past, the total money spent on the sector was Rs 7,338 crore. But Rs 19,523 crore was spent in the past four years, he added.

On criticism that his government is resorting to huge borrowings, he said all developing states have to borrow money. “It is not true that the government is in a debt trap. The government has borrowed money based on its repaying capacity and as per the rule book,” he said.