Shiv Sena asks for list of 40 lakh farmers in Maharashtra who will get total loan waiver

After initially expressing satisfaction with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra government’s Rs34,022-crore farm loan waiver in the state, the Shiv Sena on Monday made more demands and asked for a list of all 40 lakh farmers who will benefit a hundred per cent from the scheme.

Speaking at Aurangabad, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also took credit for the government’s decision to grant a farm loan waiver in the state. “The Shiv Sena managed to get a farm loan waiver out of people who equated demands for a loan waiver to being a fashion statement. The government had to grant a loan waiver because farmers and the Shiv Sena came together,” he said.

The party, on Saturday, welcomed the state government’s scheme for a Rs34,022-crore loan waiver in Maharashtra to help 89 lakh farmers burdened with debt. According to the government, 40 lakh farmers will not have to make any payments at all.

He, however, added that farmers in Nashik and Ahmednagar are distressed despite the state government’s promised loan waiver, and the government should set up a study group to look into how the loan waiver will actually benefit farmers.

“To see how every needy farmer gets the benefit of the loan waiver, to ensure that the announced scheme is actually helping the farmers, there is a need to set up a study group. The Shiv Sena will pursue this with the state government,” Thackeray said.

He also demanded that the government increase the bonus being given to farmers who have been regular in their loan repayments, and the cut-off date of June 2016 to avail of the loan waiver scheme should be pushed to 2017.

As part of the loan waiver scheme, the government has promised an incentive for farmers who paid back loans regularly, giving them a bonus of Rs 25,000 or 25 percent of the loan repaid -- whichever was higher.

Moreover, Thackeray said the government should also immediately scrap cases slapped against farmers during the recent agitation for a loan waiver.

The Shiv Sena backed farmers in their protests, even demonstrating against the government, of which it is a part, on the streets and bitterly criticising the BJP.