Maha govt justifies online application process for farm loan waiver

NAGPUR: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday justified the process of inviting applications online for farm loan waiver, saying it is designed to ensure only the poor and needy get benefits of the scheme. The BJP-led state government had in June last year launched a scheme to provide Rs 34,000 crore debt relief to 89 lakh financially distressed farmers. The opposition Congress and NCP recently alleged that even after a year, the promise of providing loan waiver to 89 lakh farmers was yet to be fulfilled. Replying to a debate on farmers’ issues in the Legislative Assembly, state Co-Operation Minister Subhash Deshmukh said the figure of Rs 34,000 crore for waiving loans of 89 lakh farmers was provided previously by the State Level Bankers Committee (SLBC). “We wanted to ensure that only the poor and needy farmers get help of the loan waiver scheme," he said. Justifying the online process of availing the scheme, he said, “As many as 77 lakh farmers applied online for loan waiver and after the scrutiny, 69 lakh of them were found eligible,” the minister said. The loan waiver scheme, called as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana, will continue till all the needy farmers get its benefit, he assured.