Farmer gets loan waiver certificate, but not benefits, says

A farmer from Washim who was given a loan waiver certificate by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is yet to get the benefit of the write-off, NCP leader Dhananjay Munde claimed Friday.

He further alleged that the farmer, identified as Ashok Manvar, was also "arrested" by Marine Lines police for unknown reasons.

"The farmer, to whom the chief minister had handed over the certificate two years ago on Diwali, has still not received the benefit. I showed the certificate in the House. The Marine Lines police took action against the same farmer, arrested him," Munde told reporters here.

Munde said police was not disclosing the reason why Manvar was held and claimed the station in-charge was not answering calls.

The NCP leader said he rang up the landline number of the police station for 45 minutes.

"The inspector in-charge was not answering calls and has also kept his phone switched off," Munde said.

Meanwhile, Manvar alleged he was made to sit at the police station for three hours before being released.

Manvar said he was not troubled by the police but they asked him why he was speaking to the media on the issue.

"Why did they (government) not address my problem if they are so concerned about the media? I would not have travelled all the way here from Washim. What was my fault? Why did they make me sit there for three hours," Manvar asked.

Displaying the certificate, Manvar said while the government had promised that Rs 1.40 lakh of his debt would be written off, it had waived off only a part of the amount.