Better late than never is true as far farmers of Maharashtra is concerned. State Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced loan waiver of up to Rs. 1.50 lakh per farmer and it is an encouraging news. Now it is clear that the stance of centre assuming significance against the backdrop of farm loan waiver announced by the Maharashtra Government. Nearly 89 lakh farmers in the state will benefit and an amount to the tune of Rs. 34022 crore will be waived in this one time measure. Incidentally, 40 lakh farmers entire loans will be written off under this package. Such a decision ought to have been taken in the wake of political unrest and the farmer’s sufferings in the state long back. This is a historic decision as no other state has given such a huge sum of waiver. Had the decision taken in the beginning of the year with lesser farm loan waiver, many lives would have been saved and there was no scope for agitation and unrest in the state.
Nickhil Mani
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
