M Venkaiah Naidu: Seeking loan waiver has become fashion nowadays

Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said in Mumbai on Thursday that asking for loan waiver has become a “fashion” nowadays but it is not the final solution. Further, he said that loan waiver should be considered only in extreme situations.

Farmers in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha recently protested over various issues concerning them, including the demand for waiving off their loans.

“Seeking loan waiver has become a fashion these days. But waiving off loans is not the final solution and it should be considered in extreme situations,” said Naidu, who was in the city for an event. He said farmers need to get good remunerative price for their produce and care should also be taken of those in distress.

Waiver (of loan) needs to be done in extreme situations, it cant be solution in long term, we need to focus more on infrastructure: V. Naidu pic.twitter.com/yvICjSIRsX

— ANI (@ANI_news) June 22, 2017

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“Most importantly we should create adequate infrastructure and facilities like godowns, cold storage, refrigerator vans, among others. Also, we will have to ensure that affordable credit is available to these farmers,” Naidu said.

So far states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have announced loan waiver.On the Centre’s proposal to sell state-run carrier Air India, Naidu said the government’s role is more of a facilitator and an administrator which should focus on creating infrastructure.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier pitched for Air India’s divestment, saying it has a market share of 14 per cent whereas its debt is Rs 50,000 crore, following which the the Civil Aviation Ministry said it was looking at all possible alternatives to make the airline viable.

Ws in context of addressing infrastructure problems incl farmer problems,said we arent addressing issues in long term bt in short term-Naidu pic.twitter.com/oPoLA6BhjB

— ANI (@ANI_news) June 22, 2017

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Tata group is believed to be discussing buying a stake in debt-laden Air India as the government mulls various options, including full or partial privatisation, to revive the national carrier, sources said.

“We have seen what has happened to Air India. The government has no business to be in business. It should focus on administration, delivering health and education facilities, connectivity and providing basic amenities and it has to be a helping hand,” Naidu said. 

With PTI inputs