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Mumbai, Oct 30 (IANS) The Maharashtra government on Thursday formed a nine-member committee to examine the politically sensitive issue of farm loan waiver and recommend measures. The panel will be chaired by retired bureaucrat and current CEO of Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA) Praveen Pardeshi.
According to a government notification issued, the committee includes additional chief secretaries of revenue, finance, agriculture, cooperation and marketing departments as well as representatives from Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank and Bank of Maharashtra.
The panel has been tasked to submit its report within six months, outlining both short-term and long-term recommendations to provide relief to indebted farmers. The move comes amid the ongoing protests in Nagpur led by Prahaar organization chief and former minister Bachchu Kadu, who has demanded immediate farm loan waiver.
During the monsoon session, the then agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate had announced the government’s intention to form such a committee to bring about a “radical change” in the lives of farmers and free them from rising debt. Although the announcement was made on July 18, the actual notification was issued today itself – with intense movement from Kadu.
Welcoming the government’s move, Kadu said only genuinely needy farmers should be eligible for the exemption. “Farmers who are economically viable – government employees, pensioners, or businessmen who farm for tax benefits – should be excluded. With Digital India, it is easy to identify the real beneficiaries,” he said.
He demanded that all loans of needy farmers be immediately waived off without any conditions, and those who repay loans regularly should also be given a relaxation of seven years. The waiver should include not just crop loans but also medium-term and development loans – including polyhouses, shade nets, irrigation and land reforms, he said.
Kadu demanded 20 per cent subsidy on minimum support price (MSP) for agricultural produce, housing subsidy of Rs 5 lakh for rural families at par with urban areas and coverage of all agricultural expenses from sowing to harvesting under the Maharashtra Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Their other demands included cancellation of the Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Highway, Rs 6,000 monthly honorarium for the disabled, widows, women and orphans and separate welfare policies for shepherds and fishermen. He also demanded a permanent solution to the salary issues of Gram Panchayat employees.
Calling for giving fair returns to farmers, Kadu proposed a fair and remunerative price (FRP) of Rs 4,300 per tonne for sugarcane with 9 per cent recovery and Rs 430 for each additional per cent, Rs 40 per kg for onion with the removal of export ban and minimum milk rate of Rs 50 per liter for cow milk and Rs 65 for buffalo milk. “The government should ensure fair pricing and implement FRP and revenue-sharing model in the milk sector,” he said.
–IANS
SJ/PGH