Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Mumbai/Nagpur, Oct 29 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the Maharashtra government is considering farm loan waiver, and never said it would not waive farm loans.
He was reacting to the demand for farm loan waiver by Prahar Janshakti Sangathan chief and former minister Bachchu Kadu during the ongoing protests.
Kadu, along with various farm organisations, are protesting on the Nagpur-Hyderabad highway and have also blocked other highways and major roads and railways.
CM Fadnavis told reporters, “We are thinking about loan waiver of farmers. We have never taken the stand that we will not waive loans. We will take a decision in this regard at the right time. The government’s priority is to send money to the bank accounts of rain and flood affected farmers and we have started it.”
He appealed to the protesters not to do anything that could cause trouble to the common man.
He warned, “The protesters should not do anything that may cause trouble to the common people. Some novices, novices and some bad elements join such protests. Of course, there are genuine protesters and farmers in this protest. But many people with different tendencies try to give a violent turn to the protest by joining the protest. So it is important to be careful.”
CM Fadnavis further said, “The protesters should not do things like rail roko, road roko, chakkajam and we will not allow them to do such things. The government is trying to solve the problems of the farmers. We are completely positive about their problems. The government has announced a package of Rs 32,000 crore for the rain and flood affected farmers. We are depositing that money directly in the bank accounts of the farmers. My only appeal to the protesters is that we should discuss. A way must be found through it.”
The Chief Minister said that the government has adopted a clear stand to help the farmers.
He said, “The government has formed a committee to solve the problems of farmers. This is because farmers are in distress at the moment. It is important to help those farmers who have suffered huge losses due to rains, whose agricultural products have been washed away. We need to help the farmers first, not the banks.”
He clarified, “When we waive off loans, the money is given to the banks. But this does not directly benefit the farmers. It takes a lot of time for the money to reach the farmers. What we are doing now is sending the money directly into the bank accounts of the farmers.”
Meanwhile, in Nagpur, Kadu said the government should immediately announce farm loan waiver instead of holding a discussion round. He has made eight demands in his memorandum to the state government and during a telephone conversation with state Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan.
Kadu said, “The government should announce complete loan waiver for farmers, provide 20 per cent subsidy on minimum support price (MSP) on agricultural commodities, and Rs 5 lakh subsidy should be given to families in rural areas by applying the same criteria as in cities. All expenses from sowing to harvesting should be covered through the Maharashtra Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The Rs 86,000 crore Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth Highway should be cancelled.”
He further demanded that the government should give a monthly honorarium of Rs 6,000 to the disabled, destitute, widows, sisters and orphans, separate policies should be made for shepherds and fishermen to address their issues and the issue related to the salaries of Gram Panchayat employees should be resolved permanently.
–IANS
sj/svn