MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Monday waived off farm loans of over 15,000 people.
The government had promised waiver of Rs 15,000 crore of loans taken by 34.83 lakh farmers who have registered under its Mahatma Jyotirao Phule farm loan waiver scheme.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the implementation of the scheme has begun and debts of all beneficiary farmers, whose loan is up to Rs 2 lakh, will be cleared by March 31, 2020, adding, applications of another 1.61 lakh farmers were under scrutiny.
Officials said farm loans of 15,000 farmers from 68 villages were waived off by the click of a button on Monday. “The revenue and cooperative departments worked hard over the last 36 days to prepare the list of beneficiaries for this occasion,” said a cooperation department official.
Thackeray and his cabinet colleagues also spoke with some farmers whose loans were waived off via video conferencing. “One farmer was emotional when he was told that his Rs 1.60 lakh loan had been waived off. His son’s marriage was in next 15 days and he had no money. This is big relief to farmers,” he said.
“We have earmarked Rs 15,000 crore in the annual budget for loan waivers. If we require more, we will make a provision in the next budget,” said Ajit Pawar, deputy chief minister and finance minister.