The revised Kisan Credit Card (KCC) guidelines by the state government, which tighten the terms of agricultural credit, including the requirement to pledge land as collateral for crop loans exceeding ₹ 2 lakh, have sparked opposition among Punjab’s farmers.
“Such decisions were not taken by any government in the past. The revised policy, which supersedes the earlier KCC scheme introduced in 2000, has also increased the share farmers must repay to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), which operate at the village level and form the grassroots of the cooperative agricultural credit system. The revised policy also stipulates an interest rate of 11% for farmers who take a crop or agricultural loan from a nationalised or private bank and simultaneously borrow from a PACS.
“It is a move to further strangle the farmers, who are already in distress and debt,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal, who heads a faction of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), a constituent of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. A senior official of the state cooperative department, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the collateral requirement was made mandatory by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), leaving the state with little choice but to implement it. “It is laughable that a farmer who is a shareholder in the PACS and pays interest for the loan is also asked to submit collateral,” he said. We demand the circular be withdrawn and our union will shortly decide how to build pressure on the government for its withdrawal,” Rajewal said. “Now, the banks and rural societies will keep tabs on different loans taken by the farmers,” a cooperative department official said.
