BHUBANESWAR: Taking a cue from the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the Odisha government is now planning to waive farm loan in the state.The proposal was mooted during a meeting between chief minister Naveen Patnaik and newly elected panchayati raj institutions (PRI) members from Bargarh and Puri districts. They urged him to consider the loan waiver as they said farmers from the state have been facing natural calamities like flood, drought and cyclone almost every year."We will certainly examine the matter," Naveen said at the party headquarters, following the interaction.In Odisha more than Rs 19,000 crore farm loan is due from nearly 34 lakh farmers, an officer said. Out of this Rs 12,000 crore is owed to different cooperative banks and nearly Rs 7,000 crore to commercial banks.When asked, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said a number of PRI members have raised the issue during their interaction with the chief minister."The state government is contemplating on the matter. We will soon take a call on the issue," Pradeep said.Cooperation minister Damodar Rout, however, questioned the necessity behind waiving farm loans and claimed farmers are utilizing the loan amount to marry off their daughters and to consume alcohol."Farmers are taking agriculture loans but not utilizing it for the right purpose. Instead, they are utilizing the money for their daughters' marriage. In some cases it is also observed that farmers buy alcohol with the loan amount," Damodar said.On reports of farmer suicides from different parts of the state, Damodar said they never commit suicide unless a very adverse situation prompts them to do so.Leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra, who had recently sought loan weaver in the state assembly, said the government should seriously think it over as farmers are committing suicide and the loan burden can be attributed as one of the reasons. On Damodar's statement, Narasingha said: "I have not heard what Dama Babu has said. But if he has made any such statement, it is contradictory to the chief minister's remark on farm loan waiver ."In Odisha, nearly 62 per cent people of the total population depend on agriculture. According to the National Crime Records Bureau report, over 1895 farmers committed suicide in the state between 2005 and 2014.