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Mumbai, Nov 3 (IANS) Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday accused the Mahayuti government of making a mockery of the plight of rain and flood-hit farmers in the state and demanded that the loan waiver be approved immediately.
Thackeray made this statement in response to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s comment in which he had said that the decision on farm loan waiver will be taken by June 30 next year. He called on the government to implement the farm loan waiver without any delay and said it was urgently needed to help farmers affected by the crisis.
He also announced his plan to visit flood-hit Marathwada for four days from November 5 to assess what assistance they have received or been deprived of from the government’s relief package.
At a press conference here, Thackeray said, “Farmers have come out on the streets demanding farm loan waiver. The Chief Minister has promised that it will happen by June next year. If the loan waiver is going to happen in June next year, should the farmers pay the installments on the loans till then or not? The Chief Minister made an absurd statement that if the loan waiver is done now, it will benefit the banks. How can the banks benefit from the loan waiver done now, and if the loan waiver happens in June next year? If it is, then it will be of no use.” Bank?”
He also criticized the visit of the central team to villages affected by natural disasters and asked how the team would inspect the damage caused by heavy rains and floods in Marathwada in just two to three days.
“The government announced a relief package. After that we took out a morcha. Even today, the demand of the farmers is that they should be freed from debt. A central inspection team will come. This tour is for two to three days. After the inspection tour of Marathwada, when will the proposal be sent after assessing the losses? How will the entire Marathwada look in two to three days?” he asked.
“The Prime Minister asked the Chief Minister to send a proposal for assistance to the Central Government. I do not think any proposal has been sent by the State Government to the Central Government. It is a joke that the farmers of Palghar district have received only two rupees and a few paise in respect of crop insurance compensation,” he claimed.
Thackeray reiterated that the government should not waste time but should immediately provide farm loan waiver. “…the government has promised them loan waiver by June next year, and the central team is now going to inspect the losses in the state…the government is only making fun of the farmers,” he alleged.
He further said that the government should pay attention to the demand of farmers to provide assistance of Rs 50,000 per hectare.
Thackeray recalled that after becoming chief minister in November 2019, during the winter session, he had announced waiver of crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh. “We implemented the scheme successfully. The system and data are the same. Then why are you not announcing the second phase of loan waiver? People have accepted that we have done it. We did not put any conditions. We dealt with the farmers honestly. Why is this government not working like that?” he asked.
–IANS
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