State assures fresh loans for 11.12 lakh farmers who didn’t get waiver

Although the state government has coined 2020 as the ‘productivity year’ by setting a higher target for agriculture production to give a helping hand to the economy,

Although the state government has coined 2020 as the ‘productivity year’ by setting a higher target for agriculture production to give a helping hand to the economy, 11.12 lakh farmers are yet to get the benefit of the loan waiver announced by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

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The state has directed district banks to offer them fresh credit. However, these farmers are not eligible for fresh loans for the ensuing kharif season in June, as they already have outstanding loans and banks need directives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to release the amount.

During the marathon review meeting on Thursday, this issue was prominently discussed. Besides chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and his deputy Ajit Pawar, many senior ministers including agriculture minister Dada Bhuse, health minister Rajesh Tope and home minister Anil Deshmukh attended the meeting through video conferencing.

Pawar, while admitting that the state government could not release Rs 8,100 crore towards the loan waiver to the remaining 11.12 lakh eligible farmers, assured them fresh loans. “We have deposited Rs 12,000 crore in the loan accounts of 19 lakh farmers under the loan waiver scheme,” he said.

CM Thackeray said that the farmers in the state can play an important role in bringing the economy out of the crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. “The farmers should try to change the crop pattern amid the pandemic. Maharashtra farmers have the capacity of producing food grains that can feed the entire country. They should put in efforts in exporting their produce,” he said.

Agriculture minister Dada Bhuse said that amidst the lockdown, the state government has made seeds and fertilizers available to the farmers. “We have supplied 60,000 metric tonnes of fertilizers and 20,000 quintals of seeds to 1.5 lakh farmers so far. The department has conducted workshops for 6 lakh farmers and trained them about various aspects of farming, including crops patterns,” he said.