State asks for extra Rs 26,402.32 crore in winter session

Nagpur: The first day of the winter session of the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Monday in Nagpur saw the state government table a supplementary demand of Rs 26,402.32 crore.

Of the total amount sought, Rs 15,000 crore will go towards the farm loan waiver scheme.

In the lower house of the assembly, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis responded to the opposition’s objection to tabling of the supplementary demand by saying that additional funds were needed to overcome the shortfall in funds for the loan waiver scheme.

Addressing the lower house, Mr Fadnavis said, “The Maharashtra government is ready to discuss the loan waiver with opposition leaders. The scheme will ensure that each and every farmer is benefitted.”

“The opposition must remember that till now, we have paid more money (to farmers) than what was paid through the 2008 loan waiver,” he added.

After the last monsoon session, this is the second time that the Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has tabled a supplementary demand of such a high amount. The demand is expected to be discussed during the session.

The BJP-led NDA government had announced a loan waiver of Rs 34,022 crore following unprecedented protests by farmers in June this year.

Out of the total Rs 15,000 crore meant for the loan waiver, Rs 1,000 crore will come from the tribal area sub plan which will be used specifically for tribal farmers. Besides, Rs 1000 crore has been allotted to scheduled caste (SC) farmers from the scheduled caste sub plan.

The farm loan waiver scheme christened “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana” has been riddled with hiccups right from the stage where farmers submitted online applications to avail the benefits, as many farmers were unable to complete the online process.