Maharashtra To Waive Rs 30,000-Crore Loans For Marginal Farmers But Protests Continue

• Maharashtra announces Rs 30,000 crore farm loan waiver for small and marginal farmers.
  
• Waiver will come into force by October 31.

• Government to appoint a committee to work out modalities for the waiver in next four months.
  
• About 30-40 lakh farmers expected to benefit from the waiver, Maharashtra government official says.

• Maharashtra is already burdened by a public debt of Rs 3.7 lakh crore.

Amid mounting protests by farmers across Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis late Saturday night announced a Rs 30,000 crore farm loan waiver – the biggest such writeoff in the state.

The waiver, which will come into force by October 31, 2017, will be restricted to small and marginal farmers with land holdings of five acres, Fadnavis said at a press conference after late-night talks with leaders of farmers, wire agency PTI reported. About 30-40 lakh farmers are expected to benefit from it, an official in the Maharashtra government told BloombergQuint.

The announcement came after a study group, formed under the additional chief secretary of finance to look at loan waivers given by various states such as Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and others, submitted its report to the state government. A committee with representatives from farmers, will now be appointed to study this report and work out modalities of the loan waiver in the next four months, Fadnavis said.

Decided to appoint a committee to prepare modalities of loan waiver with representatives of farmers to ensure max coverage & satisfaction pic.twitter.com/rG2OR1d22K

The waiver is intended for small and marginal farmers across the Maharashtra, but those in Vidarbha who are at risk of default will benefit the most, the government official added. According to Fadnavis, 80 percent of such small and marginal farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada will be impacted.

This will be the first loan waiver to farmers in suicide-prone regions. No state in the country has given a complete loan waiver to farmers.

Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra

Since 2014, around 8,000 drought-hit farmers have committed suicide in Maharashtra while another 31 lakh are on the verge of defaulting on their loans, according to the state's estimates. Last month, the Maharashtra assembly witnessed an uproar as the ruling BJP's alliance partner Shiv Sena and the Opposition demanded a farm loan waiver. The state government presented an “agriculture-centric” Budget but didn't announce a waiver.

The Rs 30,000-crore waiver could create a considerable dent in the state's finances, which is already burdened by a public debt of Rs 3.7 lakh crore, according to data from the 2017-18 Maharashtra Budget.

We are working to fulfil his dream of serving the poor.
We announced biggest ever loan waiver today to give relief to farmers in distress ! pic.twitter.com/pNbHeTCZtO

Also Read: Farm Loan Waivers To Touch 2% Of India's GDP Before 2019 Polls

Upholding MSP

The Maharashtra government also decided on Saturday to make it a criminal offence to pay farmers less than the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce, and a law for this will be enacted during the monsoon session of legislature, Fadnavis said.

The state commission for agricultural produce will be set up within a month and a decision on increasing minimum prices of milk will be taken by June 20, he said.

Agitation Continues

However, farmer groups were divided on withdrawing their statewide strike, which entered its fourth day on Sunday. Farmers from across the state have been on an indefinite stir since June 1, demanding, among other things, a complete loan waiver and an increase in the procurement price of milk and a pension scheme. The stir has squeezed supplies of vegetables, fruits and milk to wholesale markets across the state.

“We have agreed to most of the demands.... Some people's agenda is set. They want to create a situation of anarchy in the state and so they do not want the strike to end,” Fadnavis said at the press conference.

A group of farmers from Puntambe village in Ahmednagar met Fadnavis last night and promised that the strike would be called off. But later in the day, the Kisan Kranti Morcha leader, Samjay Patil Ghatnekar, said the strike will continue. “The government tried to create a rift between farmers,” he added.

Facing flak, Jayaji Suryavanshi, who led the delegation to Fadnavis, “apologised” for calling off the stir. “The strike was only called off temporarily. But if farmers want it to continue, I am with them,” he said.

The core committee of farmers in Puntambe protested against those who met Fadnavis. 'Gram sabha' of village was supposed to take final call on strike, they said.

The core committee of farmers in Nashik also said the agitation would continue until the chief minister announced a total loan waiver and implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee.

The Ahmednagar Agricultural Produce Market Committee received only 37 quintals of vegetables on Saturday, against nearly 1,000 quintals a day before the stir began. Around 20 lakh litres of milk is produced in Ahmednagar everyday. But the cooperative milk producer institutions and private milk companies received only three lakh litres today, officials told PTI.

In Nashik, the striking farmers at Soygaon in Yeola poured milk on the roads while women from the cultivators' families staged ‘rasta roko' at Dindori near Nashik and blocked vehicular traffic towards Gujarat, rural police said.

The farmers' outfits also staged a road blockade at Musalgaon phata at Sinnar.

At least 113 farmers were held during the protests across the state since last night for resorting to violent methods like damaging public property, arson, etc, during the protest, said Bipin Bihari, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order).

With inputs from PTI

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