Maharashtra loan waiver: NCP to launch agitation against 'inefficient' state govt from 30 October

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday said it will organise a state-wide agitation against the “inefficient” BJP-led Maharashtra government from 30 October to 8 November. The state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare said the party will observe 8 November, the day on which demonetisation was announced last year, as shraadh day (death anniversary). “This government only indulges in rhetorics and has done no work. So the NCP will launch a state-wide agitation against the inefficient government from 30 October to 8 November,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_4180411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] He was speaking to reporters after releasing an information booklet on failures of the government. Tatkare said the farm loan waiver announced by the government has been a complete failure. “The government has fooled farmers. We had thought the farmers will have a happy Diwali this year, but their festival passed in darkness,” the NCP leader said. The government has not stated exactly how many online applications for loan waiver were received, how many are eligible for the scheme, how many farmers would be provided a one-time settlement and how many have repaid the loans, he said. “Some say 10 lakh applications were bogus, others peg the number at 68 lakh. There is no coordination between ministers and they are deliberately hiding the figures,” he claimed. “People who launched agitations against the Congress-NCP government to demand higher prices for cotton farmers are not even able to give them the Minimum Support Price (MSP) now,” he said. “In Gujarat, cotton farmers have been given a bonus of Rs 500…will a similar step be taken in Maharashtra,” he asked.