Govt considering loan insurance scheme for farmers: PM

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said his government would do everything to help debt- ridden farmers, for whom it is considering a loan insurance scheme.

"The government is considering a loan insurance scheme to mitigate risk for indebted farmers," Singh told a delegation of the Bharatiya Kisan Union and Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movement led by Mahendra Singh Tikait.

Besides, the government is committed to increased investment in agricultural research so that productivity of indigenous seeds and land as well as water utilisation could be increased, the Prime Minister's Media Adviser Sanjaya Baru quoted Singh as saying.
   
Noting that the UPA government attached top priority to the welfare of farmers, Singh said his government was committed to ensuring the livelihood security of the farming community and food security for the people.

In the past three years, the Centre has ensured remunerative prices for farm produce and effected a significant increase in the minimum support price, reversing the neglect of the farming community and the policy of minimal increase in MSP under the previous NDA government, he said.

The government will safeguard the interests of Indian farmers in WTO negotiations and not accept any obligations that will hurt the interests of farmers, he said.
   
Singh assured the delegation that he would draw Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's attention to the demands of farmers.

In his Independence address this year, Singh had said that the government will soon launch a special programme to invest Rs 25,000 crore in agriculture to enhance the livelihood of farmers and increase food production.