Maharashtra farm loan waiver: Devendra Fadnavis says no mistake on list of beneficiaries

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who had on Tuesday expressed surprise over the list of beneficiaries entitled to the farm loan waiver that included farmers from Mumbai city and suburbs, on Wednesday said there was no mistake in the list. [caption id=“attachment_3460340” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] He also said that the government would soon release details of the beneficiaries. As many as 813 farmers from Mumbai city and its suburbs figure on the loan waiver list, which had left Fadnavis surprised, prompting him to order a scrutiny before sanctioning the waivers. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event here on Wednesday, Fadnavis said, “There is no mistake in the list of farmers, who are entitled for a loan waiver. We will soon release the names of all beneficiaries, including those in Mumbai. Accusations levelled by the Opposition are false.” These farmers figure in the list of probable beneficiaries eligible for benefits under the Rs 34,000-crore loan waiver scheme announced by the state government last month. On Tuesday, the chief minister had said, “Even I was surprised to find these two cities (Mumbai and suburbs) in the list. The ‘beneficiary’ farmers from these two districts would be scrutinised thoroughly before sanctioning waiver of their loans.” He had said that he has directed officers concerned to look into the genuineness of these farmers from the two urban centres. The Mumbai city and its suburbs are urbanised areas, leaving little scope for farming activity in the country’s commercial nerve centre. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Ashok Chavan said there are many discrepancies in the list and demanded that Fadnavis should apologise to farmers. “We never knew Mumbai has farm lands. This is a new revelation for us,” Chavan taunted. “The Fadnavis-led government has duped farmers, for which he should apologise. The opposition parties will hold a meeting next Monday to decide on our future course of action,” he said. Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant had on Tuesday said that besides the list of beneficiaries in Mumbai, the list includes 2.49 lakh farmers from Buldhana followed by 2.42 lakh farmers from Yavatmal, 2.08 lakh farmers from Beed: all of them being suicide-prone districts. “The government is lying. This is condemnable. How can the beneficiaries be more than the total number of farmers, who have taken loans,” he had asked. According to the list of farm loan waiver beneficiaries released by the government, 694 farmers belong to Mumbai and 119 from its suburban districts. Besides, the list includes 2,49,818 lakh farmers from Buldhana, followed by 2,42,471 lakh farmers from Yavatmal, 2,08,480 lakh farmers from Beed - all of them being suicide prone districts. It also includes 2,00,869 farmers from Ahmednagar, 1,94,320 from Jalgaon, 1,63,760 from Parbhani, 1,48,322 from Aurangabad.