The Maharashtra government will spend ₹21,216 crore on the crop loan waiver scheme announced by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in the Assembly last week, which the government claims will benefit 30.57 lakh farmers.
The State Cabinet on Tuesday sanctioned the decision for the expenditure. Finance Minister Jayant Patil had told The Hindu that the amount to be spent by the State on the loan waiver will cross the ₹20,000 crore-mark, the highest ever by the Maharashtra government.
“The farmers whose loans are pending till September 30, 2019, will benefit from this scheme, wherein a loan up to ₹2 lakh will be waived. I am announcing Mahatma Jyotirao Phule farmer loan waiver scheme, which will start from March, as the government machinery requires two months for preparation,” Mr. Thackeray announced in the Assembly on Saturday. A special scheme for those who regularly pay their loan instalments will be announced soon.
As per the procedure cleared by the State Cabinet on Tuesday, up to ₹2 lakh in crop loans taken from April 1, 2015, to September 30, 2019, irrespective of the availability of land, is eligible for waiver under the scheme. In case the amount is more than ₹2 lakh, the information will be sought from banks and a new scheme will be announced for those farmers. “The scheme will include more than one account, if the amount is less than ₹2 lakh,” said an official.
The money will be transferred directly to the accounts of farmers with outstanding loans and there will be no forms, interviews of spouses, or online procedures as carried out by the previous government.
The entire process will include four steps. The first includes the announcement and publicity of the scheme, the eligibility, and the linking of Aadhaar. In the second step, banks and other financial institutes will create a list of loan accounts linked with Aadhaar and those without Aadhaar linkages. In the third step, a web portal will be developed for scrutiny of claims and a special number will be attached to each account. A village-wise list of beneficiaries will be announced. In the last stage, each farmer will check the Aadhaar link and in case he or she has a complaint, can approach the district complaint redressal committee. In case of no complaints, the money will be distributed.
