Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday said farm loan waiver is “imperative” given the agrarian crisis in the country and the economists critical of the scheme should do farming on two acres of land for 10 years before commenting on it.

“Economists who are criticising farm loan waiver must experience what farming is in this country. Take two acres of land and do farming for 10 years and then comment on the loan waiver,” he said. Replying to questions on the loan waiver during a press meet at the Congress office here, Mr. Chidambaram said, “People will decide if farm loan waiver is good or bad politics. The economists and technocrats cannot decide the quality of politics; they can only decide the quality of economics .

Referring to loan waiver announcements made recently by three Congress-ruled States — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh — he said, “Farm loan waiver is imperative today. Our governments have responded to the dire needs of the situation.”

In one district of Maharashtra, he said, 108 farmers had committed suicide.

“Out of 10 crore farming families, 5.28 crore are in debt, with the average debt being ₹90,000 to ₹1 lakh. How then will families repay the loan?” he said.

Rafale deal

On the Rafale issue, Mr. Chidambaram said the ₹60,000-crore worth deal cannot go “unchallenged or unexamined” after the Supreme Court expressed its limitations to examine it.

He alleged that the Centre had deliberately misled the court and later accused it of “misinterpreting” the note. “The government is also giving lessons in English grammar to the court,” he said.

The Congress has decided to take up the deal before the people and will ask them to support its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the issue, he said.