Soe Htike Aung
According to the Agricultural Loans and Savings Law for farmers approved on 12 June 2020, LAW HOME legal Adviser, Kyaw Wunna Aung, said farmers who do not have Form-7 can now get loans and savings.
“In this law, it said it does not matter whether you have Form-7 or not. The matter is just the farmer really needs to be farming. If it is so, the money saver work on his/her farming and can save when he/she borrows it. If he is going to borrow as soon as he saves, he can borrow if at least three people guarantee him,” he said.
In the previous Loan and Savings Law, only farmers who have Form-7 can have the opportunity to access loans and savings whereas farmers who do not have Form-7 cannot have that opportunity.
Kyaw Wunna Aung said when farmers who do not have Form-7 want to get a loan without guarantees, it can be applied with the Group Savings and Loan System, which means the whole village could continue to borrow together and guarantee each other.
The law was drafted based on the needs of farmers after frequent discussions between farmers and the government and parliament since December 2017, said U Yan Naing Swe, a Chairman of the Legislative Committee, State Hluttaw Representative of Kayah State.
“In terms of drafting, we collect survey to various townships. Besides, we collect their suggestions in case of problems they are encountering in their communities. Then, as soon as we get the township recommendations, we clarify them again in the state level and collect their recommendations as well. Only after these are combined, we approve the Agricultural Loans and Savings Law,” U Yan Naing Shwe said.
This approved Agricultural Loans and Savings Law is the only one which approved by the current government based on the suggestions and discussions raised by the farmers.
The law agriculturally includes about farmers’ loans and savings, seeds, and water resources, soil, customary land tenure, crop markets and much more.
Ko Kyaw Wunna Aung keep saying that in term of the loans and savings, they will know how much they should save, and how much they can borrow only after the rules are promulgated.
Kayah State Hluttaw Legislative Committee could enact (2) drafted laws under the current government and which are Kayah State Development Law and Agricultural Loan and Savings Laws.
During the over four-years term of the Kayah State Hluttaw, a total of 22 laws have been approved until today.