MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government continued to agonise over the fine print of its loan waiver for farmers and put off revealing its terms and conditions by a couple of days.
A meeting of the State-Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) has been convened urgently on Wednesday where banks will be asked to submit data on outstanding farm loans and explain their difficulties in implementing the waiver.
If everything goes well in the meeting, a special meeting of the cabinet will be convened and the final contours of the waiver would be announced, a senior minister told New Indian Express.
The criteria for choosing beneficiaries has emerged as a contentious point between farmer leaders and the group of ministers who have been tasked with working out the fine print.
“Some of the so-called leaders of farmers appear to be more interested in derailing the talks,” a minister who participated in the deliberations yesterday cribbed.
After farmer leaders objected to the terms and conditions mentioned in the government resolution (GR) granting an advance of Rs 10,000 to farmers, ministers went over the details and promised to include all suggestions in the revised GR. The farm leaders initially agreed but did a U-turn after emerging from the meeting, the minister said.
“Under such conditions, it is difficult to carry out deliberations,” he added.