Widen scope of Maha farm loan waiver: Activist to Fadnavis

Eminent farm activist Kishor Tiwari has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to widen the scope of the just announced loan waiver to cover cultivators who have outstanding debt since 2009.
The Rs 34,022-crore debt waiver, announced by the BJP- led government last week, would be valid only for loans taken between 2012 and June 30, 2016.
Tiwari, Chairman of the Special Task Force constituted by the government to address agrarian issues, said the provisions of the recent Government Resolution (GR) pertaining to the write off will keep most of the distressed farmers out of the purview of the waiver.

As per the GR, persons having annual turnover of more than Rs 10 lakh and those who are registered under VAT or service tax would be ineligible for loan waiver. Similarly, retired persons, excluding ex-servicemen, whose monthly pension is Rs 15,000 or more will also not get any benefit.
"The GR has been drafted by bureaucrats on whom one cannot pin any hope. Unless the chief minister himself intervenes to relax the stringent conditions, most of the needy and distressed farmers will be left out of the scheme," Tiwari said in a statement issued here.
"The government has constantly been saying that farmers had not benefited by the loan waiver announced by the UPA government in 2008. In that case, the present dispensation should increase the scope of loan waiver to 2009 rather than limiting it to 2012," Tiwari said.

"The government has asked defaulting farmers who have loans of more than Rs 1.5 lakh to clear their dues by June 30 to get Rs 1.5 lakh write off. This is practically impossible for them to do," he stated.

Tiwari said the issue of repayment of loans over Rs 1.5 lakh should be left to banks and beneficiaries to decide and the state should limit itself to giving Rs 1.5 lakh waiver as announced in the scheme.
He said it would be a grave injustice to farmers if they are exempted from the scheme over GR provision that says cultivators whose brother is an income tax payee will not be eligible to avail benefits.

"As banks last year delayed the disbursement of crop loan, the cut off date (under the scheme) should be changed to August 15, 2016 from June 30, 2016," Tiwari said.
Meanwhile, Fadnavis said the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC) has records of the actual beneficiaries and the government will publish their district-wise number soon.
About the impact of the mega loan waiver, the chief minister said development works will not stop but they will get slightly affected by the programme.
Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the state will make available the list of beneficiary-farmers to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who has demanded that it be made public.