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Vidarbha cotton farmers unhappy

MUMBAI: Cotton farmers in Vidarbha are disappointed with the loan waiver announced in the budget as most of them own more than two hectares of land.

(In the 2008-09 budget, the Finance Minister has announced loan waiver for small and marginal farmers with a landholding of up to two hectares)

In villages like Bothbodan, near Yavatmal for instance, there is practically no farmer who owns less than two hectares, according to Kishore Tiwari of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan. This village has reported the highest number of suicides since two years with 18 farmers killing themselves.

Mr. Tiwari said though the loan waiver was historic, it was of no use to the six suicide-prone districts of Vidarbha. In the distress areas, the government should not have put a cap on the landholding. The cotton-growing areas in Vidarbha are rain-fed and people have larger land holdings of up to six or seven acres (one acre = 0.405 hectare) on an average.

They would now be eligible for the one-time settlement, which is of no use to them, Mr. Tiwari said. According to his calculations, Vidarbha farmers will get about Rs. 600 crore worth of loans waived while in western Maharashtra, the figure could go up to Rs. 6000 crore.

Wardha-based leader Vijay Jawandia, a former Shetkari Sanghatana activist, said the ceiling of two hectares for the waiver meant that cotton farmers would get the least benefit.

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