PTI

New Delhi, Mar 5: BJP on Tuesday sought waiver of loans to farmers holding up to 10 acres of irrigated land as it claimed that the farm package announced by the government for peasants was “too little, too late”.

The main opposition party also wanted the government to spell out its plan to raise the resources for implementing the Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver package for farmers announced in the budget.

A meeting of the party's parliamentary party discussed in detail the issues faced by farmers and noted that the loan waiver was “inadequate” to address the distress in agrarian sector.

The party also decided to set up a committee headed by senior leader Yashwant Sinha to study the problems faced by farmers and to puncture what it called the “illusion” created by the government by announcing the package.

“The government should announce waiver of loans to farmers holding up to 10 acres of irrigated land and 16 acres of non-irrigated land,” BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha V K Malhotra said after the meeting.

The government had announced waiver of loans of small and marginal farmers holding up to two acres.

Claiming that two-third of the farmers have taken loans from private money lenders at exorbitant rate of interest, he said there was no mention on their plight in the budget.

“The package announced by the centre was too little, too late,” he said emphasising that the UPA government did not take any steps in the last four years to address the crisis in the agrarian sector.