Farmers protesting for a farm loan waiver have withdrawn their agitation in Nagpur after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a timeline for its implementation.
Fadnavis, who was earlier reluctant to announce the farm loan waiver, said the state government is committed to it, adding that it will be done in the next eight months.
The CM said the state government has constituted a committee led by Pravin Pardeshi, retired IAS and chief executive of think tank MITRA, with the responsibility of preparing the detailed timeline and execution for the farm loan waiver in the state.
"The state government constituted a committee that will decide the norms for farm loan waiver, and based on that, the scheme will be executed in the state. Once the committee submits the report, within the next three months, it will be implemented. The committee will also suggest short and long-term measures to alleviate the hardship and address the financial distress in the agriculture sector,” Fadnavis said.
Bacchu Kadu, a former minister who was spearheading the protest, said they are happy that the state government has given a timeline to execute the farm loan waiver. He said that earlier the state government was not giving any date and not even an assurance.
“Now, we've got the date. We will keep track of it and ensure that the state government executes its given promise of farm loan waiver. We have decided to give time to the state government so that they will not get any excuse later. Besides, we want this scheme to be implemented properly, benefiting as many farmers as possible,” Kadu said.
On the other hand, Uddhav Thackeray slammed Fadnavis for not implementing the farm loan waiver immediately. He said farmers are forced to wait for eight months for the loan waiver. “Farmers are already in distress, so they need immediate financial relief. But the state government is more interested in giving date after date, like courts. This will push them to the doorstep of death,” he said.