Page 91 - #letter to son

NIGHTFALL
Dear son,

Political consensus is widespread in the realm of farm loan waivers.

It is quite strange that though diversity has made our ministers disagree
on a wide range of issues, when it comes to farm loan waivers, there is
strong political agreement in its favour. If there is one thing that finds
united resonance it is their consensus view on the use of farm loan
waivers. This is in stark opposite to the economic commentariat that
farm loan waivers are counterproductive.

Life on our farm in Chitrakoot was tough. I recall my mother waking
up at the crack of dawn, walking down to the fields and engaging in
backbreaking labour till it was sunset. Her physical exhaustion could
only be offset by the happiness she had in putting food on the table.
Farmers are a hardy race. Because they are one with nature, they have a
deep sense of contentment. They are inherently connected with zameen
(land), aakash (open sky), agni (fire), paani (water) and hawa (air) as
the building blocks of their life that has ensured their existence and
survival since time immemorial. They have few things, but their sense
of acceptance gives them serene inner peace. So the anger bursting
out in the fields today is both upsetting and unsettling and warrants a
closer examination.

The intelligentsia argue that waiving farm loans destroys the credit
culture. It incentivises borrowers to default when they take loans the
next time. Furthermore, it is grossly unfair to those who have toiled
hard day and night to repay their loans on time – a waiver ridicules their
honest efforts and perhaps prompts them to default too. Furthermore,
repeated agricultural debt forgiveness destroys the whole business
of loans. Apart from disintegrating borrower behaviour, it also has a
commensurate fiscal impact on government finances that is perennially
running in the deficit. Such fund diversion by the government out
of its limited resources denies public expenditure or the funds to be
productively used somewhere else. It also raises the question if the
government can waive-off loans that have been disbursed by banks. Isn’t
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