Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said the process to grant a loan waiver to farmers will be completed within two to three months.
“The leaders of this government have promised a farm loan waiver. The government is at present discussing all aspects of the scheme. Our leader Sharad Pawar gave the loan waiver at the Centre and he is guiding us. Our government has decided to extend the benefits of the scheme to every needy farmer, and it will be completed within two to three months,” Mr. Pawar told reporters.
Taunting the previous Devendra Fadnavis-led government, which had announced a loan waiver, Mr. Pawar said the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s scheme will not drag on for three years. “It will be completed after identifying beneficiaries and is likely to be linked with Aadhaar. It is unlikely that the Centre will fund the scheme, because if it does so for one State it will have to for others as well. Therefore, discussions need to be held over the strain on the State treasury,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to an officer from the State Finance Department, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the administration to look into the details of the Madhya Pradesh government’s loan waiver scheme. “Among the many options in front of the government, an absolute loan waiver of up to ₹2 lakh and bank guarantee up to ₹1 lakh more is being discussed,” the officer said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded that the State government announce the loan waiver at the earliest. Mr. Thackeray has said the decision will be taken at the appropriate time.
