The Congress on Tuesday said that the Maharashtra government's Rs 36,500 crore farm loan waiver was an "eye-wash", noting that the supplementary demands tabled in the legislature allocated only Rs 20,000 crore for the scheme.
Speaking to reporters at the Vidhan Bhavan, Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar questioned how the BJP-led Mahayuti government plans to bridge the remaining gap of around Rs 16,000 crore.
"The government has said it would transfer the entire loan waiver amount to banks in a one-time settlement. From where will it raise the remaining Rs 16,000 crore? It means that the announcement is an eye-wash. The figures of beneficiaries are inflated, and we exposed this in the assembly yesterday," he claimed.
On June 2, the Maharashtra cabinet approved the 'Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karja-mukti Yojana', a Rs 36,585-crore farm loan waiver scheme, expected to benefit nearly 56 lakh cultivators.
Wadettiwar questioned the government's claim that 56 lakh farmers would benefit from the scheme.
"The number 56 has become famous, and everyone knows whose chest measurement it refers to. The actual number of beneficiaries will not be more than 12 lakh. Once the final figures come out, the expenditure will not exceed Rs 12,000 crore," he alleged.
The kharif sowing season had already begun, and farmers were awaiting the promised loan waiver, the Congress leader said, alleging that the scheme would fail to provide them any real relief.
Meanwhile, Opposition leaders, including Wadettiwar, Congress MLA Vikas Thakre, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Ambadas Danve and MLA Siddharth Kharat, staged a protest on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan over the alleged theft at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
The protesters raised slogans condemning the alleged theft and displayed a banner that read, "Devotees built the Ram temple; BJP looted the donation box."
(With inputs from PTI)