Roll­out of ₹29,712­cr farm loan waiver likely next week

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s ₹29,712-crore farm loan-waiver scheme is expected to roll out next week with 34 lakh farmers set to benefit from

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s ₹29,712-crore farm loan-waiver scheme is expected to roll out next week with 34 lakh farmers set to benefit from it. The list of verified farmers will be uploaded by February 15 for their endorsement, which needs to happen in a week’s time, before the actual disbursement begins in the first week of March.

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After the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray-led state government announced the loan waiver in the winter session in December last year, the co-operation department has collated data of beneficiaries in the past one-and-a-half months.

District co-operative and commercial banks, too, have verified the details of the beneficiary farmers by linking the accounts with Aadhaar numbers to make the system fool-proof.

“Unlike the loan waiver scheme launched by the previous government, under the current scheme, the filling of the 28-column application and its verification is done by banks. The lists of beneficiaries prepared by the district banks are audited by the government auditors in the co-operation department. The lists with the commercial banks are not being verified by the government as they are verified by the core banking solution. Banks will be held responsible if the waiver is disbursed to those who are not entitled to it,” said a co-operation department official, who did not want to be named.

Once the names are displayed at the village-level by the co-operation department, the beneficiary farmers will have to endorse their applications and the waiver amount by authenticating the applications through biometrics at Aaple Sarkar service centres and rations shops.

Farmers with an outstanding loan of up to ₹2 lakh till September 30, 2019, are entitled for the waiver.

Unlike the loan waiver announced by the previous government, the cap for the waiver is as per individual beneficiary and not the farmer’s family.

“This has widened the scope of the scheme, as many members in the families could get the benefit. We will soon add schemes for farmers with outstanding loan of more than ₹2 lakh, and incentives for farmers paying their dues regularly,” said an agriculture department official, on condition of anonymity.