‘Loan waiver scheme will benefit very few farmers’

Various farmers’ outfits have criticised the Jyotirao Phule Loan Waiver Scheme launched by the state government last week, claiming that most of them will be ineligible

Various farmers’ outfits have criticised the Jyotirao Phule Loan Waiver Scheme launched by the state government last week, claiming that most of them will be ineligible for the same as their pending dues exceed the ₹2-lakh limit.

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However, state finance minister Jayant Patil on Saturday said the Maharashtra government was planning to formulate another scheme for farmers whose debt amount exceeds ₹2 lakh, and for those repaying their debts on a regular basis. “We are collecting information of farmers with debt amounts exceeding ₹2 lakh. To satisfy these farmers, we will introduce a partial or complete loan waiver scheme, so there is no need to worry,” said Patil.

Chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray announced the scheme on December 20. On Friday, the state issued a government resolution (GR) to implement it, according to which farmers with debt of more than ₹2 lakh, including the principal amount and interest, would not be eligible for benefits of the Jyotirao Phule Loan Waiver Scheme.

The state government is expecting more than 30 lakh farmers to benefit from the scheme, which could cost the exchequer more than ₹20,000 crore.

Criticising the norms and conditions stated in the GR, Ajit Navale, the state secretary of All India Kisan Sabha, said, “This is the real truth of Thackeray government’s farm loan waiver scheme. They have backed out of what they had promised in the election campaign. Shiv Sena had promised to clear the 7/12 extracts of farmers, but they are not ready to waive off existing debt above ₹2 lakh.”

Navale, one of the organisers of the farmers’ long march in 2018, also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s loan waiver scheme was better than the current one. Under the BJP-led government’s scheme, there was a one-time repayment provision which allowed loan waiver for debts amounting to ₹1.5 lakh. This provision does not exist in the Jyotirao Phule Loan Waiver Scheme, he said.

Usually, more than 70% farmers in the state borrow ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh and after taking into account the interest on the principal amount, the total debt amount goes beyond ₹2 lakh. “Owing to such strict norms and condition, lakhs of such farmers have been disqualified in the first criteria only,” Navale said.

Raju Shetti, leader of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, said the new loan waiver scheme was a “mockery of farmers”.

“Owing to this criteria, only a handful of farmers would be benefitted. You can hardly find farmers having debt below ₹2 lakh,” Shetti said.

He also pointed out that while the GR mentioned waiving pending loans, it does not say anything about current loans. “This year, because of drought, delayed monsoon, floods and unseasonal rain, many farmers were forced to borrow and as a result of crop damage, they are not able to repay it. However, this new loan waiver scheme will not cover such farmers,” Shetti said.

He has decided to meet the CM to request a blanket loan waiver scheme that will cover debts up to ₹2 lakh, without any technical glitches. Those with debts exceeding ₹2 lakh will also be covered under such a scheme.

Farmers outfits also called the scheme and the GR ambiguous, and raised questions on the government not declaring the total amount to be spent on the scheme nor announcing the estimated number of farmers who will benefit from it.

Kishore Tiwari, president of Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM), however, supported the state government’s loan waiver scheme. “Under this scheme, small and marginal farmers would be benefitted. And as far as those farmers with debt amount exceeding ₹2 lakh are concerned, the government is working on it,” Tiwari said.