On Saturday, 21st December, the Uddhav Thackeray led Maharashtra government announced a loan waiver of upto Rs two lakh for farmers, with a cut off date of September 30, 2019. Chief Minister Thackeray made the announcement in the Legislative Assembly on the last day of the winter session of the legislature.
The scheme will be called Mahatma Jyotirao Phule loan waiver scheme besides, a special scheme which would be offered for the farmers who repay their loans on time, said Thackeray.
Finance Minister Jayant Patil said the waiver would be unconditional, and details would be communicated by the chief minister’s office in due course.
Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis alleged that the government had not fulfilled its original promise of full loan waiver. He also said the Sena-led government failed to give assistance of Rs 25,000 per hectare to farmers who suffered losses due to unseasonal rain, a demand which Thackeray himself had made earlier before he became CM. Fadnavis and other BJP MLAs then staged a walk out in protest.
Farm loan waiver was a big issue in the assembly election that was held in October. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 105 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly. But it could not form government after it couldn't muster up the number needed to reach the 145-majority mark.
In the meantime, Uddhav Thackeray is likely to expand his cabinet as well with reports indicating that an agreement between the three major parties in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the deputy CM’s post will go to the NCP.
