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A very big and relief news has come out for the farmers of Maharashtra. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced in the Assembly that the stringent rule under which the outstanding loan should not have been more than ₹ 2 lakh has been completely removed from the government’s new agricultural loan waiver scheme. This historic step of the government will directly benefit thousands of farmers who were earlier deprived of the benefit of loan waiver due to this upper limit condition.
New rules of ‘Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Loan Waiver Scheme’
According to PTI report, the name of this new scheme Punyashlok Ahilya Devi Holkar Agricultural Loan Waiver Scheme Is placed. The government has not only removed its limit of ₹ 2 lakh, but has also increased its scope. Earlier this scheme was to be applicable only on the outstanding loans till the financial year 2025-26, but now it has been extended. Till financial year 2026-27 Has been extended to the outstanding loan of Rs.
56 lakh farmers will get huge benefit of ₹36,000 crore
The Chief Minister (who also holds the charge of the Finance Ministry) rejected all the allegations of the opposition and presented the actual figures in the House. He said that through this scheme, loans worth ₹36,000 crore of about 56 lakh farmers of the state will be waived off. The government proposes to spend ₹20,000 crore in the first year, ₹22,000 crore in the second year and ₹25,000 crore thereafter for this scheme, which has been prepared after consulting banking sector stalwarts.
How different is this scheme from the old loan waiver schemes?
In the ‘Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Loan Waiver Scheme’ of the year 2019, there was a rule that if the dues of a farmer were more than ₹ 2 lakh by just 1 rupee, then he was excluded from the scheme. But this will not happen now. However, the CM has refused to remove the condition attached to repayment of ₹50,000 as it would put an additional burden of ₹4,000-5,000 crore on the exchequer. Along with this, he announced that farmers covered under Mahatma Phule Yojana will also now be given loan waiver benefit of up to ₹2 lakh.
Clarification given on the rule of keeping beneficiaries out
Acknowledging the impact of regular loan waiver on the financial condition of banks, the CM said that the government has struck a perfect balance between the safety of the banking system and helping farmers. He clarified that the decision to keep people who had availed the benefit of previous loan waiver out of this scheme is not a new one; Beneficiaries from 2017 were also excluded from the 2019 scheme and beneficiaries from 2008 from the 2009 scheme.
Effort to save farmers from moneylenders without caring about elections
Devendra Fadnavis strongly defended the scheme, saying that loan waiver does not make any farmer rich, but it was very important to take this step to save them from the clutches of private moneylenders and to get loans from banks again. There are no elections in the state till 2029, yet the government has taken this decision rising above politics. The government is already giving electricity subsidy worth ₹25,000 crore annually to farmers and the total budget of various schemes of the agriculture department is about ₹95,000 crore.