Maharashtra govt announces loan waiver; farmers call off protests

NEW DELHI: The Maharashtra Government on Sunday announced complete loan waiver to farmers, after which cultivators called off their protests. The state government will form a committee to decide criteria to waive off loans. "The government has decided to waive farmers' loans. The loans of farmers with small land holdings stand waived from today itself," Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said. Patil, who headed a high-powered committee set up by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was speaking to reporters after holding discussions with farmer leaders here today. Farmer leader and Lok Sabha member Raju Shetti, who participated in the talks, said he was happy that their demands had been met. "Our issues have been resolved. We have decided to temporarily call off our agitation, including the dharna protests scheduled for tomorrow and day after. However, if no satisfactory decision is taken (on the criterion for loan waiver) by July 25, we will restart our stir," Shetti said. Another farmer leader, Raghunathdada Patil, said the minister had assured them that "all loans" of farmers will be waived. "The atmosphere now is like Diwali celebrations. 100 per cent of our demands have been accepted," he said. The ministers' group has decided to restart fresh loan disbursal to farmers from today, Raghunathdada said. "We are calling off the road and rail roko protests scheduled for tomorrow and June 13," independent MLA Bachu Kadu said. "However, if the decision taken today is not implemented before July 24, the farmers will resume their agitation," Kadu said. Farmers in Maharashtra launched an unprecedented stir on June 1 which has affected the supply of milk and vegetables in major urban centres including Mumbai. While refraining from selling their agricultural produce in many parts of the state, the cultivators took to the streets to disrupt the movement of vehicles carrying farm produce to cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Nashik. Among prominent demands raised by farmers are a complete loan waiver, a guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produce, and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report. Earlier, a rift developed among agitators as a group of farmers decided to call off the protest after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a partial loan waiver for small and marginal farmers on June 3. The measure is to come into effect by October 31. (With inputs from PTI)