Nagpur: Notwithstanding economic slowdown and limited fiscal space, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday announced waiver for farmers of unpaid load up to Rs 2 lakh with cut-off date of September 30, 2019. The scheme will be named after social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule.
Thackeray made announcement in the state assembly on the concluding of the week long winter session today. The amount will be deposited in the bank account of the eligible farmer in the most transparent manner from March 2020 onwards.
“Crop loans outstanding till September 30, 2019, will be waived by my government. The upper ceiling for the amount is Rs two lakh. The scheme will be called Mahatma Jyotirao Phule loan waiver scheme,” Thackeray said. His announcement was welcomed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi partners by thumping benches.
Finance Minister Jayant patil said the waiver would be unconditional, and details would be communicated by the chief minister’s office in due course.
Thackeray informed that banks and the district and state level officers will be trained in next two months for the successful implementation of crop loan waiver scheme. The beneficiaries will be entitled for fresh loan for the crop season 2020-21.
Thackeray said the government will also announce special scheme for farmers repaying their loans timely and regularly.
It is a partial fulfillment of poll promise given by Shiv Sena and allies Congress and NCP during the assembly election. CM hinted that the government will not stop here but come out with some more decisions on loan waiver in due course of time.
Thackeray during the assembly poll campaign had said that his party wanted to make farmers ‘loan-free’ rather than giving them a loan waiver. The Shiv Sena had also promised an ‘aid’ of Rs 10,000 to all farmers in Maharashtra. On the other hand, the Congress and the NCP had promised a complete loan waiver if elected to power.
It must be mentioned here that the previous BJP led government in July 2017 had announced Rs 34,000 crore crop loan waiver scheme to cover 89 lakh farmers. However, the government laid down several conditions to get the benefit of loan waiver scheme which reduced the number of beneficiaries to 44.23 lakh. The BJP led government had disbursed Rs 24,000 crore of which Rs 18,891 crore have been actually spent till date.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the government had not fulfilled its original promise of full loan waiver.
He also said the Shiv Sena-led government failed to give assistance of Rs 25,000 per hectare to farmers who suffered losses due to unseasonal rain, a demand which Thackeray himself had made earlier before he became CM. Opposition staged a walk out to protest against government’s failure to keep its promise.
