Consider farm loan waiver in select areas: Pawar to Fadnavis

NCP President Sharad Pawar today asked Maharashtra Government to consider loan waiver to farmers in areas where crop loss and debt had been the maximum and suggested suicide-prone Yavatmal district be declared 'dry' to prevent agriculturists from consuming liquor.
In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, he demanded that Yavatmal district in Vidarbha, which he just toured, be declared 'dry' like Wardha and Chandrapur.
The 'dry' tag would mean imposing a ban on the sale, purchase, production and consumption of liquor in the district.
The former Union agriculture minister said he had toured three villages in Yavatmal district which reported the highest farmer suicides in the Vidarbha region.

"Crop loss, mounting debt and lack of good market price for agriculture produce were main reasons for farmer suicides. The previous UPA Government had implemented a loan waiver of Rs 71,000 crore for farmers of India. The Government (of Maharashtra) should consider loan waiver to farmers in areas where they are facing hardships due to crop loss and debt," Pawar said.
"Unpredictable weather like the excess rain in 2012 and hailstorm last year have had an adverse impact on crops. Works of medium irrigation projects are pending.

"In the last ten years, it has been noticed that the suicide rate is more in months of August to November when sown crops have not grown, standing crops have got damaged due to lack of rain and money has been borrowed for festivals," Pawar said.

The former Chief Minister said farmers had sought minimum support price of Rs 6,500 per quintal for cotton and Rs 5,000 for soyabean but their demand has not been accepted.
"During the Lok Sabha campaign, Narendra Modi had promised fixing the agriculture production cost in such a way that farmers get 50 per cent of profit (on investment). But the assurance has not been fulfilled (by Modi Government)," he noted and stressed the need to declare Yavatmal a dry district to prevent farmers from consuming alcohol.
Recalling how he had initiated a campaign to provide psychological support to survivors of the 1993 Latur earthquake during his tenure as Chief Minister with help of actor and psychiatrist Mohan Agashe, Pawar urged Fadnavis to start a similar initiative for suicide-prone districts.