Maharashtra govt releases Rs 899.11 crores under farmers loan waiver scheme

The Maharashtra government on Saturday released Rs 899.11 crores towards waiving the loans of the farmers whose crops were affected due to various reasons. The will reportedly be disbursed to 2,39,610 farmers.

The BJP-led Maharashtra government had said while announcing the farm loan waiver scheme in June that of the 89 lakh farmers whom it will benefit, some 44 lakh owe less than Rs1.50 lakh each to the banks. The ceiling for loan waiver has been raised from the initial Rs1 lakh to Rs1.50 lakh.Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had in June announced the historic loan waiver of Rs 34,022 crore for farmers and subsequently laid down the eligibility criteria for availing of it.

In July, the state government came up with a set of guidelines for the effective implementation of the loan waiver scheme for farmers. The government later expanded the ambit of the loan waiver scheme to include even those farmers who had taken loans after 2008. There are 1.34 crore farmers in Maharashtra, according to the data of the state agriculture department. Earlier, the state's loan waiver scheme, titled Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sanman Yojana, covered only those farmers who have outstanding debts between April 1, 2012 and June 30, 2016.