Maharashtra to miss June 30 deadline for farm loan waiver, disbursal to start on July 5

The Maharashtra government on Monday acknowledged that it will miss its June 30 deadline for implementing a farm loan waiver scheme that was approved earlier this month, Sakal reported.

State Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharane told the Assembly that loan waiver amounts under the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karjmafi Yojana will begin reaching eligible farmers from July 5.

Bharane said that the rollout was delayed because the financial provision for the scheme was made through supplementary demands, The Indian Express reported.

“After the supplementary demands are approved by the legislature, they will require the governor’s assent,” the minister was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “Once the governor signs them, the loan waiver amount will be credited to farmers’ accounts from July 5.”

Bharane also clarified that no farmer will be denied the benefit of the scheme on account of the absence of an Agristack Farmer ID. An Agrstack ID is a unique identification number assigned to farmers, with which they can access benefits such as crop insurance and agricultural loans.

Several MLAs on Monday demanded in the Assembly that the government should relax some of the eligibility conditions of the loan waiver scheme, The Indian Express reported. To this, the agriculture minister said the government was willing to consider modifications and recalled Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ statement that a sub-committee looking into the matter would...

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