Loan waiver decision is victory of farmers' struggle: Vikhe

Senior Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil today said the Maharashtra government's decision to waive farm loans is the victory of farmers' struggle.
The Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly said the decision, announced by the state government, was also the result of the 'Sangharsh Yatra' organised by the Opposition.
"The Fadnavis government will have to bear a heavy cost if it fails to implement the decision," he said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde today demanded that benefits of loan waiver should be given to all farmers.
"The (Monsoon) session (of the state Legislature) is going to begin on 24 July. If the government takes the decision of waiving loan of all (farmers) it will be good and if not, the stir would be intensified," Munde, a senior NCP leader, told reporters in Aurangabad.

Welcoming the decision, Maharashtra BJP President Raosahbeb Danve said the loan waiver decision proves that the BJP-led government in Maharashtra supports farmers.

"If farmers face any difficulty in future, the BJP government will always be behind them," he said.
The Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government today announced a loan waiver for farmers and decided to form a committee to decide the criteria of debt relief, after which cultivators called off their protests.
"The government has, in principle, decided to waive farmers' loans with certain stipulations. The loans of farmers with small and medium land holdings stand waived from today itself," Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said.