Last updated: December 17th, 2019 5:07 PM

Punjab Crop Loan Waiver Scheme

The Government of Punjab has announced crop loan waiver scheme to provide loan waiver relief up to Rs.2 lakhs for small and marginal farmers those who have taken crop loan from public sector banks, cooperative institutions and other commercial banks. In this article, we look at the Punjab Crop Loan Waiver Scheme in detail.

Objectives of the Scheme

The objective of Punjab crop loan waiver scheme is to lessen the burden of loan on the head of small and marginal farmers. The government has made a provision in the scheme that all the marginal farmers who have less than 2.5 acres of agriculture land, will be eligible for Rs. 2 lakh of debt relief.

Features of the Scheme

The following are the features of the scheme

• The government has announced waiving off the entire interest amount that is outstanding for the farmer.
• Under this scheme over 10.25 lakhs state farmers (marginal and small) will be benefitted.
• The full crop loan amount will be waived off for marginal farmers with Rs. 2 lakhs loan liability.
• In case of small farmers, a loan amount of Rs 2 lakhs from the crop loan will be waived off.

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant has to be the citizen of Punjab state.
• The applicant should have to prove his residentship.
• Marginal farmers should have below 2.5 acres of farmland.
• Small farmers are eligible if they own between 2.5 to 5 acres of farmland under the scheme.

Documents Required

The following documents are to be produced at the time of registering under this scheme:

• Residential proof of the applicant.
• Documents of the land.
• Sanction letter issued by the banks.
• Loan statement.
• Account details of the applicant.
• Aadhar card of the applicant.

Implementation Process

A bankers meeting will be conducted by the state government to prepare a list on bank wise loan waiver amount under deputy commissioner supervision. The list will be sorted farmer wise and then be forwarded to the Director of Agriculture. The loan waiver amount will then be released to the Deputy Commissioner who would credit it to the farmer bank account. The loan waiver amount will first be settled for marginal farmers and then for small farmers.

Application Procedure

As the scheme has been launched recently by the state government has yet to be revealed about the application process. If the applications are rolled out, then the eligible farmers will be able to get the application form from the authorized website of Punjab government.