Manmohan's personal touch to loan waiver

NEW DELHI: To give a healing touch to distressed farmers across the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will personally write to each beneficiary of his government's loan waiver scheme.

In his letters, in regional languages, the Prime Minister will explain the scheme, to be implemented from June 30. This exercise will also be one way of reaching out to the aggrieved farmers, particularly when the general elections are less than a year away.

The Rs 60,000-crore debt waiver scheme for small and marginal farmers, announced by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the 2008-09 budget, was expanded to include more categories of farmers and the financial implications went up to Rs 71,680 crore.

-The Hindu