less than a fortnight after it announced a blanket loan waiver for distressed farmers in the State, the Maharashtra Government on Saturday came out with a staggering Rs 34,022 crore relief package for debt-trapped farmers in the State, under which it would waive the loans up to the extent of Rs 1.5 lakh each to 40 lakh farmers.
In what was described as the biggest-ever loan waiver package unveiled by any State Government in the country, the BJP-led Maharashtra Government announced that it would bring 34 lakh needy farmers into “institutional credit line”, a situation that would facilitate the farmers concerned to avail of fresh loans from the banks, and help another 6 lakh farmers avail fresh loans through a “One Time Settlement” (OTS), under which it would contribute to the extent of Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer and help them settle their pending loans once and for all.
Of the total 89 lakh farmers, the ambitious loan waiver package — to be implemented under a new scheme named Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Krishi Sanman Yojana — will straight away make 34 lakh farmers credit-worthy and prepare ground for another 6 lakh farmers to seek fresh loans, through OTS scheme.
The waiver package will benefit such farmers whose loans have been restructured and those who have been repaying their loans regularly. The State Government has set June 30, 2016 as a cut-off date for loan waiver scheme. In effect, the farm loans pending up to that date would be considered for loan waiver.
Addressing a news conference after a special State Cabinet meeting, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said “We have decided to waive farm loans amounting to nearly Rs 34,000 crore. Under this package, we straight away waive loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer. By doing so, we will be able to able to bring 90 per cent of the farmers into institutional credit line’. For the remaining 6 lakh farmers, we will introduce an OTS Scheme, under which the State Government will contribute to the extent of Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer and help the defaulting farmers clear their pending loans once and for all”.
Elaborating on this Fadnavis said “In this package, we are taking care of the needs of farmers whose loans have been restructured into medium loans and whose crop loans are yet to be cleared. We will waive medium term loans and crops of these kind of farmers. In addition, we have also decided to give an incentive to the extent of 25 per cent of the loans or to the maximum extent of Rs 25,000 to those farmers who are re-paying their loans regularly. In effect, we will bring 40 lakh farmers into institutional credit line”
“Altogether, we will be extending Rs 34,000 crore loan waiver package to 89 lakh farmers in the State. We will raise Rs 34,000 crore required for loan waiver from banks and repay the banks through instalments,” the Chief Minister said.
The State Government, which had earlier indicated that it would limit the extent of loan waiver to Rs 1 lakh per farmer, has increased the limit to Rs 1.5 lakh, after it
came in for a severe flak from farmer leaders who had their reservations known to the Chief Minister-appointed high power Group of Ministers last weeks.
Fadnavis, who had earlier announced that the Government would come out with the loan waiver package before October 31, has advanced the announcement, following tremendous pressure brought to bear on him by the ruling Shiv Sena which has all along been insisting the loan waiver be implemented forthwith.
The Chief Minister unveiled the loan waiver after holding consultations with Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, NCP president Sharad Pawar and Swabhimani Sehtkari Sanghatana leader and MP Raju Shetty.
On his part, Uddhav had – during his meeting with the State Government-appointed GoM convenor Chandrakant Patil — recommended that the loan waiver limit be raised to Rs 2 lakh per farmer from the earlier Rs 1 lakh per farmer.
Though the State Government’s loan waiver package was welcomed by the Opposition parties, their leaders were critical of Fadnavis for delaying the decision and not extending the benefits to all the 89 lakh farmers in the State.