KUNDAN RAJPUT
NASHIK :
The much talked about state-sponsored Mahatma Phule Loan Waiver Scheme is stuck in lockdown, and out of the 1.47 beneficiaries in the district, only 778 farmers have so far availed loan waiver benefits under the scheme.
The remaining 1.46 lakh farmers are still to benefit under the scheme. This is the situation not only in the district but also in entire Maharashtra. The state is in financial crisis due to the corona pandemic and there is a cloud of uncertainty over whether farmers will get loan waiver in the near future.
Before coming to power, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had promised the farmers for loan waiver to make them debt-free.
Accordingly, when the Mahavikas Aghadi came to power, CM Thackeray had announced the Mahatma Phule Loan Waiver Scheme and gave big relief by waiving debts of farmers up to Rs 2 lakh without imposing any pre-conditions.
A total of 1.47 lakh farmers in the district have become eligible for loan waiver under the scheme.
The amount was to be credited directly to their bank account. Accordingly, in the first phase, 520 farmers from Chandori in Niphad and 258 farmers from Sonambe in Sinnar tehsil received Rs 2 lakh as loan waiver relief in their bank accounts respectively.
However, as the code of conduct for Gram Panchayat elections was implemented in the district at the beginning of March, the benefit of debt waiver could not be availed to the eligible beneficiaries in the district. Then came the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic which has given a severe jolt to the entire loan waiver process in the state, depriving farmers of the loan waiver benefits.
It is likely to take four to five months period for the state economy to recover from the corona crisis. Therefore, only after Diwali, remaining eligible farmers in the district are likely to get loan waiver.
Under the scheme, there are 1.47 lakh beneficiaries in the district. Out of which 700 farmers have so far availed loan waiver. The corona crisis has hampered the loan waiver process severely.
- Gautam Balsane, District sub-registrar
