Farmers in Maharashtra may have reason to cheer ahead of Diwali as the state government plans to begin disbursing the loan waiver amount to their bank accounts from October 1. Maharashtra cooperation minister Subhash Deshmukh, who was in Pune for a review meeting of the government’s loan waiver scheme, said 25 lakh applications have been received from farmers so far and the government has extended the date of filling applications to September 15. “Forms shall be accepted until September 15, scrutinised until September 30 and money shall be disbursed into farmer bank accounts from October 1,” Deshmukh said. As per data released by Deshmukh, 12,38,000 farmers have enrolled for the loan waiver scheme and 10,11,000 have actually applied for the scheme. As many as 26,000 centres have been opened across the state for filling up forms online. Following complaints from farmers that they were being charged for filling the online forms at the e-Seva kendras, the minister said action will be taken against these centres. All the district collectors have been directed to take action and keep strict vigil, Deshmukh said, adding that coordinators have also been appointed in conjunction with the IT department to ensure that the farmers understand the process.
Officials said the government will cancel the licence of the accused service providers if allegations against them are found to be true. The government has already budgeted Rs 20,000 crore to implement the waiver, they added. As per the scheme, farm loans of up to Rs 1.5 lakh will be waived per farmer under the state’s scheme. A total of 89 lakh farmers were originally meant to be covered under this. However, in the last eight days, 34 farmers have committed suicide in the state’s Marathwada region, a government report said on Wednesday. The region has seen below-average rainfall this monsoon so far. According to the minister, data are still being collected and the actual number of farmers eligible for the loans will become clear in a few days. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced the Rs 34,022-crore farm loan waiver scheme in June following aggressive protests by farmers.
