813 farmers from Mumbai also get loan waiver

Perhaps unknown to most Mumbaikars, a tiny group of 813 farmers from the country's commercial capital, Mumbai shall become debt-free in the just announced loan waiver bonanza, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here early on Tuesday.

They include 694 farmers from Mumbai city and another 119 farmers from Mumbai suburbs, who will enjoy the loan waiver declared for their ilk in 35 districts of the state.

These farmers are included in the proposed loan waiver for 36,10,216 farmers with outstanding loans below Rs 150,000 whose debts shall be completely written off under the latest and 'historically biggest' loan waiver scheme of the state government.

Besides, in Mumbai's immediate neighbourhood, another group of 918 peasants from adjoining Palghar, 10,809 from Raigad and 23,505 from Thane shall be eligible for writing off their loans, Fadnavis said.

In the state rankings, Buldhana has the highest chunk of beneficiaries with 2,49,818 farmers while neighbouring Yavatmal - with one of the worst farmland suicides crisis - ranks second at 2,42,471, followed by Beed's 2,08,480 and Ahmednagar's 2,00,869 farmer beneficiaries.

The other districts with a major share of beneficiaries under the largesse are Jalna - 1,96,463, Jalgaon - 1,94,320, Pune - 1,83,209, Amravati - 1,72,760, Parbhani - 1,63,760, Nanded - 1,56,849, Aurangabad - 1,48,322, Nashik - 1,36,569, Akola - 1,11,625 and Solapur - 1,08,533.

The remaining 17 districts fall in the below 1,00,000 beneficiaries list drawn up for the state.

Incidentally, all the coastal districts of Konkan - blessed with abundant rains - figure lowest in the list of beneficiaries.

They are Sindhudurg (24,447), Thane (23,505), Raigad (10,809), Palghar (918), Mumbai (694), and the state's lowest - Mumbai Suburban District with 119 farmers - who are scheduled to become debt-free soon.

--IANS

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