Pune: Former Deputy Chief Minister and senior National Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Friday hit out at the State government’s debt-relief scheme, saying the government was out to “hoodwink financially distressed farmers”.
Speaking in Ahmednagar, Mr. Pawar alleged that the farm loan waiver would exclude deserving small and marginal farmers owing to the increasing number of hidden conditions the State kept adding to the scheme.
“Deserving and needy farmers are getting ensnared by the hidden clauses in the so-called debt relief schemes announced by the Chief Minister. The very purpose of these waivers was to benefit the section of farmers with a debt repayment capacity of less than 50% of their total debts. And these are the ones who cannot avail of the waiver,” Mr. Pawar said. He said more than 40,000 small and marginal debt-ridden farmers in Ahmednagar are ineligible for the scheme.
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The NCP leader also lambasted the Shiv Sena for its “phoney” show of solidarity with the farmers, saying that its ostensible disaffection with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was equally false. “The BJP and Sena have come to power in the State after 15 years and have no intention of relinquishing it. The Sena’s pot shots at the BJP is mere theatrics,” said Mr. Pawar.
Mr. Pawar’s attack on the Fadnavis government’s debt-relief efforts is in stark contrast to his uncle NCP president Sharad Pawar’s comments last month. The NCP chief had said the party would play a constructive role in providing relief to debt-ridden farmers despite an unsatisfactory loan waiver plan.