The Maharashtra government comes through on its promise of loan waiver to farmers, but many other issues remain unresolved.
THE tough stand taken by farmers in the middle of June seems to be paying off. On June 11, they called off their strike after the government gave a series of assurances. The most important of these was the blanket waiver of loans to farmers owning less than five acres of land, with the option of immediately applying for a fresh loan.
On June 24, the government kept its word and, in a decision ratified by the Cabinet, announced a Rs.34,000-crore crop loan waiver for the State’s marginal farmers. Introduced by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Krushi Sanman Yojana, the scheme is designed to benefit about 89 lakh farmers.
The press release from the Chief Minister’s office said those having outstanding loans between April 1, 2012, and June 30, 2016, would be entitled for the waiver. Loans up to Rs.1.5 lakh would be written off immediately, making some 35 lakh farmers instantly debt-free.
A one-time settlement scheme was offered to nine lakh farmers who had debts of over Rs.1.5 lakh. They would be eligible for a waiver of 25 per cent of the outstanding amount or Rs.1.5 lakh, whichever was less. The scheme would benefit those farmers who had sought restructuring of their existing loans but still had arrears as of June 30, 2016. Farmers who had been repaying their loans regularly would be eligible for 25 per cent (of their loan component, up to a maximum of Rs.25,000) credited directly to their banks as an incentive for their fiscal management. Even those making their payments in June 2017 would be eligible for this incentive.
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