Much significance is being attached to the recent gifts to the farmers from Akhilesh Yadav government on the occasion of 74th birthday of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the national president of Samajwadi Party.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a waiver of loans upto Rs 50,000, previously taken from UP Cooperative Rural banks.

As per the announcement, farmers, who have paid 10 per cent of principal amount by March 2012, will be entitled to take the advantage.

The decision of the loan waiver would benefit 7.20 lakh farmers and would involve the expenditure of Rs 1650 crores.

Giving the details of the financial burden, the chief minister said that already there was a budgetary provision of Rs 500 crores and another Rs 500 crores would be arranged in supplementary budget and remaining Rs 650 crores would be provided in next budget.

In another major move to help farmers, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announced that the practice of selling the property and land mortgaged from farmers would now be stopped in all over the state.

Chief Minister Akhilesh said that his government was committed to fulfill all the promises made to farmers in the poll manifesto.

Akhilesh Yadav also said that his government had already provided relief to farmers by making arrangement for improving the canals of UP and to facilitate better water management and other irrigational needs for farming.

Uttar Pradesh government had earlier this month ordered a withdrawal of all criminal cases against the jailed farmers and their leaders. The cases were lodged against farmers following violent clash with the police in Bhatta-Parsaul in Gautambudhnagar in May, 2011. The farmers were agitating against land acquisition by the then Mayawati government. Four persons, including two farmers and two police personnel, were killed in the clash.

In a press statement, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had said that inquiries revealed that the farmers were innocent. They were agitating for their rights but were harassed and implicated in false cases by the previous Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) regime, he said.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav further said that the Samajwadi Party (SP) had promised in its election manifesto to withdraw cases, if found to be fabricated, against the agitating farmers. The withdrawal of cases was in public interest, he said.

The government's decision would also benefit farmer leader Manveer Singh Teotia, against whom Mayawati government had slapped more than two dozen criminal cases. Several farmers were even arrested. While some got bail, nine languished in jail for the last one-and-half-years. The family members of the farmers and other outfits had welcomed the move. 'It will send a good message among farmers,' said Sudhir Panwar, president, Kisan Jagriti Manch.

Earlier, the SP government had also withdrawn criminal cases lodged against farmers, who took part in Tappal agitation in Aligarh. The agitation was also against forcible land acquisition by Mayawati government. It turned violent on August 14, 2010, when police used force to disburse farmers. The violent clash left five dead, among whom four were farmers and the remaining person was a PAC jawan. The charges were dropped against 24 farmers on April 13, 2012, and another 37 were set free on September 7, 2012. (IPA)