NITI Ayog’s vice chairperson Rajiv Kumar today expressed his disapproval of Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on farm loan waivers announced in Assam and Gujarat. Rahul Gandhi had earlier tweeted that his government’s move to grant farm loan waivers had managed to wake up the Assam and Gujarat governments from their slumber.
NITI Aayog vice chairperson Rajiv Kumar on Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on farm loan waiver: What can I say? It’s like ‘maano na maano main hi champion’. Govt works after looking at everything. I don’t think any other govt has ever worked for farmers as much as the present govt is doing. pic.twitter.com/842zsz1wNd
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2018
Earlier, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had claimed that the governments of Assam and Gujarat have announced farm loan waivers in their respective states only after the Congress government of MP and Chhattisgarh announced it.
The Congress party has managed to wake the CM’s of Assam & Gujarat from their deep slumber.
PM is still asleep. We will wake him up too.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 19, 2018
With his tweet, Rahul insinuated that the Assam and Gujarat governments were indifferent to farmers’ distress in their respective states and it was only after the Congress governments’ waving off of farm loans in MP and Chhattisgarh that these governments sprung back into action and declared loan waivers.
Speaking to the media, Rajiv Kumar repudiated Rahul’s insinuations and claimed that no other government would have ever worked for farmers as much as the present one.
NITI Aayog vice chairperson on Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on farm loan waiver: No one else accepted recommendations of Swaminathan Commission report, this govt did, it raised credit for farmers to Rs 10.50 Lakh Crore. Rahul Gandhi’s govts should do their work, others will do theirs. pic.twitter.com/4bxhJbmWfK
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2018
Kumar added that it was the present government which implemented the recommendations provided by the Swaminathan Committee to alleviate farmers’ woes and raise the credit for farmers to Rs 10.50 lakh crore.
We had earlier reported how the Modi government has developed a multi-pronged strategy to deal with the chronic agrarian distress. The BJP government had last year waived off farm loans in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh but has not considered it as a panacea for the persistent agriculture miseries.
It had also hiked up the MSP prices as per Swaminathan Committee recommendations, besides launching many new initiatives. PM Modi’s government has announced that they have set a target to double the income of farmers by 2022 and the NITI Ayog and various government organisations are working to achieve the goal.