LOANS OF NEARLY 4 LAKH FARMERS TO BE WAIVED
The decision, taken by the previous government, writes off loans of peasants hit by heavy rains and floods
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government has decided to waive off the loans of farmers badly affected due to heavy and incessant rains and floods that took place in July and August last year. Nearly 4 lakh farmers with agricultural land of over 1 lakh hectare will benefit from western and northern Maharashtra.
The decision to write off crop loans of farmers hit by heavy rain and flood was taken by the Devendra Fadnavis-led government on August 3 last year. Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Satara and Solapur in the western part of Maharashtra were most affected. The previous government could not implement the decision in the run up to the assembly elections held in October.
The average kharif planting covers 149.74 lakh hectares in the state. Against a normal rainfall of 761.7 mm between June 1 and August 16, some parts received 937.5 mm rainfall. The flood-affected districts got 59 per cent excess rains. The information compiled by the agriculture department revealed that sugarcane, cotton, rice, soya bean, tur dal, groundnut were among the worst hit .
State cooperation department under secretary Ramesh Shingate issued the notification on February 12. The department will be the nodal agency to provide relief to the farmers affected by heavy rains and flood. This is in addition to the 35 lakh farmers covered under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme. It is applicable for farmers with loan up to Rs two lakh taken between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2019, and have not been repaid till September 30, 2019. The government has estimated an outgo of Rs 21,216 crore for the implementation of loan waiver scheme by April 15.
It must be mentioned here that former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in August last year had not only announced the loan waiver, but the construction of new houses for those who lost their dwellings built under the PM Awas Yojana in the recent deluge, as well as free food grains. The beneficiaries of the Prime Minister Awas Yojana, who lost their houses due to the floods, were promised a new house as well as Rs 1 lakh as cash assistance. The Fadnavisled government had sought financial assistance of Rs 6,000 crore from the Centre.
‘Cabinet will decide if water grid project be shelved’
Maharashtra PWD Minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday fuelled speculations on feasibility of the ambitious Marathwada water grid project, which was proposed by the previous BJP-led government, with his statement.
Chavan held a review meeting of the project, which seeks to connect all the major dams to each other with pipelines to supply drinking water to all the districts in parched Marathwada region.
"Today's meeting was held to review the project and to understand the challenges. Half of the 11 dams are known for the deficit water storage. In such situation, how can one implement such scheme?" he asked while speaking to reporters.
Meanwhile, the government will celebrate the diamond jubilee of statehood from May 1, 2020 with various programmes. This decision was taken at the weekly Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday under Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.