Maharashtra loan waiver: Public sector banks to remain open on weekend in bid to fast-track disbursal process

The Maharashtra government has announced that all branches of the State Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra and all district co-operative central (DCC) banks will remain open on 9 and 10 December for faster implementation of the farm loan waiver. In a meeting held via video conferencing, the government had urged banks to expedite the process of disbursal of loan waiver amounts by remaining open on Saturday and Sunday, an official press release said. Additional chief secretary in the chief minister’s office (CMO) Praveen Pardeshi also directed banks to inform account holders if their accounts are credited with one-time settlement amounts or incentive amounts. The Maharashtra government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 11,537 crore for about 41 lakh farmers as part of the scheme—the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana—the press release said. [caption id=“attachment_4249763” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Additional chief secretary in the chief minister’s office Praveen Pardeshi during the meeting. Image procured by Sanjay Sawant/Firstpost[/caption] However, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sunil Tatkare slammed the state government over its claims saying, “We had organised a halla bol morcha in which we met farmers from across the state. We have not met even a single farmer who has received the loan waiver amount. The Devendra Fadnavis government is deceiving the farmers of the state. If it claims that it has identified farmers who have received the waiver, it should publish such a list on Twitter.” Opposition parties have in the recent past been strident in their criticism of the farm loan waiver scheme and are expected to raise the issue during the winter session of the legislative assembly, which begins on 11 December. Technical errors have plagued the farm loan waiver scheme since its rollout, with farmers suffering because of glitches ranging from duplication of names in lists to incorrect Aadhaar details. Firstpost has been consistently reporting on the loan waiver and the reasons why the scheme has faced roadblocks. The waiver was announced by the Maharashtra government over five months ago. But there has been inaction on the part of different agencies—including district cooperative central and nationalised banks, the government’s information technology department, cooperation department—due to which confusion and uncertainty over the scheme persists. The confusion over the implementation of the scheme prompted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to seek a report from senior bureaucrats on the fiasco, as _Firstpost_ reported on 27 October.