CM Fadnavis says 694 farmers in Mumbai, then backs off

Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday night tweeted the district-wise break up of about 36 lakh farmers who he said would benefit from the state government’s loan waiver, including 694 farmers from Mumbai and 119 from the suburbs on Monday.

After doubts were raised on the figures as Mumbai city has no agrarian land, Mr Fadnavis said he would inquire the matter. The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that the figures had been provided by the State Level Banking Committee (SLBC). On Monday night, the CM tweeted district-wise figures of farmers who would get the loan waiver.

He said that a total 36,10,216 farmers who have taken loan up to `1.5 lakh would benefit from the waiver and their 7/12 (agriculture land documents) would be wiped clean of outstanding dues.

The same tweet says 694 farmers from Mumbai and 119 from suburbs would benefit, when there is no agriculture land in Mumbai or the suburbs. Also, Wardha district was missing from the list. Wardha district falls in the Vidarbha region, which has witnessed the worst instances of farmer suicides.

After Mr Fadnavis’ tweet, the CMO was flooded with queries about who are the farmers from Mumbai and suburbs. An official from CMO said the list had been prepared by SLBC. “The list came from the SLBC to the cooperative department, which is the nodal agency in giving loan waiver. But the government will check the background of the farmers before giving the waiver benefit,” the official said.  

Mr Fadnavis said he was also surprised and had asked his officials about the details. “I also wonder if there are any farmers in Mumbai. I have asked the officials about the same. This is a proposed list and loan waiver would be given only after proper inquiry. There is agriculture land near Mumbai and suburbs. The farmers might have taken loan from nationalised banks in Mumbai and the list must have come from the bank. Direct inquiry while giving waiver will clear ambiguity,” he said.

However, the opposition slammed the government over the goof-up. “The CM himself published the list of Mumbai farmers. He should explain to the people about this false figures,” Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.

General secretary of Maharashtra State Bank Employees Federation, Vishwas Utagi, questioned credibility of the list published by Mr Fadnavis. “The list is very doubtful. Every bank should declare their list. We want to know who are these farmers. These are bogus numbers. The private sector banks in order to complete their target lend money to micro-finance companies for agriculture. This matter looks like that. If SLBC has given these figures then how can the farmers trust the government? We are going to start a protest on July 10 of all the farmers against this,” Mr Utagi said.