Baramati: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday clarified that crop loan waiver for farmers will not be possible now due to the present financial condition of the state.
The Maharashtra government will take a decision in future after considering its finances, he said.
Dy CM Ajit Pawar’s statement is bad news for Maharashtra farmers as they were eagerly expecting crop loan waiver as announced by the MahaYuti alliance during the recent Assembly elections.
“Some things happened in the Assembly elections. Financial discipline is necessary. I presented the Maharashtra budget accordingly. The Opposition criticised the budget but I presented the budget with a realistic stance.
“Some had made statements about loan waiver before the elections. However, in the present financial situation it is not possible to announce crop loan waiver now. There will be no crop loan waiver this year and next year. Due to the government’s financial situation we will not announce it,” said Ajit Pawar at the farmers’ rally.
Opposition parties in the just-concluded Budget Session slammed the MahaYuti government for not announcing the crop loan waiver promised during the Assembly elections.
NCP(SP) legislator and former finance minister Jayant Patil had accused the MahaYuti government of not fulfilling its poll promise of crop loan waiver. He painted a bleak picture of Maharashtra’s economy amid rising revenue and fiscal deficits.
Congress legislator Vijay Wadettiwar also slammed the Maharashtra government saying that the farmers were desperately waiting for the crop loan waiver at a time when they were struggling to cope with a mismatch between the rising cost of production and low market prices of agriculture produce.
Interestingly, senior BJP legislator and former minister Sudhir Mungantiwar also questioned the MahaYuti government for not announcing farm loan waiver in the state budget.
He stated that the amount needed for farm loan waiver, Rs 20,000 crore, was less than the increased amount paid to government employees as salary and pension in one year.
“We spent Rs 1,42,718 crore on the salaries of our employees in 2023-24. In 2024-25, it was increased by Rs 16,316 crore, and Rs 13,565 crore for pensions. That is, in one year, we gave government employees an increase of Rs 29,881 crore in salaries and pensions. On the other hand, we do not give farm loan waivers because there is no money in the treasury. This is not right,” said Mungantiwar.
(IANS)
