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87-lakh farmers will benefit in Maharashtra: CM

MUMBAI: About 25 lakh small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra, the worst hit by suicides, will benefit from the loan waiver announced in the Union budget, according to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Describing the move as historic, he thanked the UPA government and Congress President Sonia Gandhi for a budget, which would serve the aam aadmi and was focussed on comprehensive rural development.

Finance Minister Jayant Patil said 73 per cent of farmers in the State, about 87 lakh, would benefit from the loan waiver. These included 25 lakh small farmers.

He gave Nationalist Congress Party president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar credit for pushing the demand.

The Shiv Sena said the loan waiver was a satisfactory move, though the decision came too late. It reflected the united struggle put up by farmers all over the country. If implemented properly, the decision could bring down the suicide rate down, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray told reporters here.

The party through its campaign last year for complete loan waiver put pressure on the Centre, he said. The Sena took out a march through the Vidarbha region, the worst affected by suicides since last year, and held massive rallies.

However, Mr. Thackeray said, the Sena would continue to agitate for loan waiver for all farmers. The present offer was limited in a sense and it remained to be seen what impact it would have. The Sena had promised loan waiver for farmers in its 2004 election manifesto.

Mr. Thackeray said the government should have brought about some regulations for moneylenders as many farmers had borrowed from them. Once the farmers were given loan waiver, steps should be taken to ensure that they did not get caught in the cycle of debt again.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, an ally of the Sena, said the loan waiver was announced with an eye on elections.

In a statement, Maharashtra BJP president Nitin Gadkari said the decision was influenced by the pressure put up by the Opposition. The Congress should take no credit for the waiver as it was its faulty policies that drove farmers to suicide.

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