Maharashtra Announces Loan Waiver For Marginal Farmers
Some sections of protesting farmers have refused to call off their agitation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced on Saturday what he termed as “biggest-ever” farm loan waiver, though some farmers' leaders said they were not calling off the 'strike' which began on June 1.
The government will waive loans of farmers with small land-holding, and 80 percent of such farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada will benefit, Fadnavis said at a press conference after late-night talks with leaders of farmers.
As some sections of protesting farmers refused to call off the agitation, Fadnavis alleged that "some people are trying to create anarchy in the state" by using farmers.
“We have agreed to most of the demands.... Some people's agenda is set. They want to create a situation of anarchy in the state and so they do not want the strike to end,” he said, without naming the opposition Congress and NCP.
“This will be the first loan waiver to farmers in suicide-prone regions. No state in the country has given a complete loan waiver to farmers,” Fadnavis said.
In a tweet, the chief minister said this was going to be the “biggest-ever” loan waiver.
On the BJP's ally and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna's MP Raju Shetti's support to the strike, Fadnavis said Shetti was not ready for talks, even when his party colleague, Sadabhau Khot, is a minister in the state government.
Fadnavis also denied that he tried to create a rift between agitating farmers. “We have agreed to their demands,” he said.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said strike was called by farmers and not by any political party. “The strike has taken place only because the government had fallen asleep. The chief minister has tried to create a rift between farmers to stop the strike,” Pawar alleged.
Fadnavis said a committee will be formed to decide the details of loan waiver and it will ensure that needy farmers are not left out while wrong persons do not benefit, which happened in earlier loan waivers. The committee will have representatives of farmers too.
The waiver will benefit farmers with small land-holding; it will be launched before October 31, he said.
Another decision taken by the government is to make it a criminal offence to pay farmers less than the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce, and a law for this will be enacted during the monsoon session of legislature, he said.
The state commission for agricultural produce will be set up within a month, he said.
Decision on increasing minimum prices of milk will be taken by June 20, Fadnavis said.
While the chief minister agreed to grant the main demand of farmers, which was loan waiver, it emerged during the day that there was no consensus among their leaders about calling off the protest, which continued in many places, blocking supply of milk and vegetables.
Prices of vegetables and fruits kept rising in cities including Mumbai due to drastic fall in supply from production centres like Nashik and Ahmednagar.
A group of farmers from Puntambe village in Ahmednagar met Fadnavis last night and promised that the strike would be called off. “The strike is withdrawn,” Fadnavis tweeted.
But later in the day, the Kisan Kranti Morcha leader, Samjay Patil Ghatnekar, said the strike was still on. “The government tried to create a rift between farmers,” he added.
Facing flak, Jayaji Suryavanshi, who led the delegation to Fadnavis, “apologised” for calling off the stir.
“The strike was only called off temporarily. But if farmers want it to continue, I am with them,” he said.
The core committee of farmers in Puntambe protested against those who met Fadnavis. 'Gram sabha' of village was supposed to take final call on strike, they said.
The core committee of farmers in Nashik also said the agitation would continue until the chief minister announced a total loan waiver and implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee.
The Ahmednagar Agricultural Produce Market Committee received only 37 quintals of vegetables today, against nearly 1,000 quintals a day before the stir began.
Around 20 lakh litres of milk is produced in Ahmednagar everyday. But the cooperative milk producer institutions and private milk companies received only three lakh litres today, official sources said.
In Nashik, the striking farmers at Soygaon in Yeola poured milk on the roads while women from the cultivators' families staged ‘rasta roko’ at Dindori near Nashik and blocked vehicular traffic towards Gujarat, rural police said.
The farmers’ outfits also staged a road blockade at Musalgaon phata at Sinnar.
At least 113 farmers were held during the protests across the state since last night for resorting to violent methods like damaging public property, arson, etc, during the protest, said Bipin Bihari, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order).