MUMBAI/NAGPUR: Contrary to the party stand, Shiv Sena minister Deepak Kesarkar, who handles the finance portfolio as Minister of State, has said that the current government in the state cares for the farmers the most and has made the most of the provisions for the schemes related to the farmers through the supplementary demands tabled in the house.
“Of the over Rs 26,000 crore of supplementary demands tabled in both the houses of the state legislature in the current session, provisions of over Rs 20,000 are for the schemes related to the farmers,” Kesarkar told The New Indian Express.
Kesarkar’s assertion gains value in the light of his party’s official stand that the government is not doing enough for the farmers. Senior Shiv Sena minister Subhash Desai had last week doubted the implementation of the loan waiver scheme while accusing the state government of not making enough provisions for the farmers. He had gone ahead to say that the local Shiv Sena workers would verify the government announcements regarding the implementation of loan waiver scheme.
“Of the total amount mentioned in the supplementary demands, Rs 13,000 crore has been earmarked for the loan waiver scheme. Another provision of Rs 2972.94 crore has been made towards concessions in the electricity bills of the farmers. Similarly Rs 1000 crore has been earmarked for Prime Minister Agro-Irrigation scheme. Rs 2000 crore more are for farmers in the scheduled areas. There are several other smaller schemes related to farmers. Hence, the supplementary demands are largely for the benefit of farmers,” Kesarkar said.
Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had to skip the session due to medical reasons and Kesarkar has been handling the charge of the department in his absence.
Kesarkar also refuted the opposition charges that Rs 2000 crore have been diverted towards loan waiver from the annual plan for the SC/ST. “Farmers from the scheduled areas, who are eligible for the loan waiver scheme, would get the benefit from the annual plan earmarked for them and hence the provision has been made that way,” he said.