As per the announcement by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government on Monday declared the first list of 15,358 beneficiaries under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Crop Loan Waiver Scheme. The list was released by Mr. Thackeray and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on the first day of the budget session of the legislature.
Mr. Thackeray had said that the first list on a trial basis to check the effectiveness of the system set up by the State government would be out on Monday. “We will pick two villages from every district and beneficiaries from those two villages will be announced. The second list will come up on February 28,” he had said.
Cabinet ministers from the MVA government held a videoconference with farmers from the villages where the names of beneficiaries have been announced.
Under the scheme, crop loans up to ₹2 lakh will be waived. Mr. Pawar, who is also the Finance Minister, said the State had received information of around 35 lakh crop loan accounts. Each farmer whose crop loan account has been settled will be given a certificate from the government.
In supplementary demands presented in the Assembly on Monday, the State has made a provision of ₹15,000 crore for the scheme in addition to ₹10,000 crore from the contingency fund, raising the total value to ₹25,000 crore.
Meanwhile, the Opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will be protesting at every tehsil of the districts on February 25 against the government alleging that it has fooled the farmers. “The MVA government had given the promise of clearing all loans against the farmers. But it is only focusing on crop loans. This is a fictitious loan waiver scheme which will not help the farmers,” State BJP chief and MLA Chandrakant Patil said.
