Mungantiwar urges CM Fadnavis to extend 2017 loan waiver to farmers left out on technical grounds

Mumbai: Chandrapur district MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at his official residence, Varsha, on September 28. He demanded justice for farmers who were left out of the 2017 loan waiver. Mungantiwar asked that farmers who were eligible but did not receive the benefit for technical reasons be given another chance.

The Chief Minister has taken note of the demand and directed the Principal Secretary of the Cooperation Department to take the necessary action. No final decision has been made yet.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana was implemented on June 28, 2017, when Fadnavis was Chief Minister. The scheme gave indebted farmers in the state major financial relief. However, some eligible farmers could not benefit from it because of technical, administrative, banking and procedural reasons. Mungantiwar drew the Chief Minister's attention to the fact that the state government announced the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karjmukti Yojana in 2026. In his view, this new scheme is the right opportunity to do justice to the eligible farmers who were left out in 2017.

Mungantiwar also asked why an eligible farmer should pay the price when he is not at fault and missed the waiver only because of administrative or technical reasons. He said that because the benefit did not arrive on time, interest, penal interest, late fees and other charges kept mounting on the loan accounts concerned. The scheme was meant to bring relief, but the debt burden grew instead. Mungantiwar said plainly that eligible farmers paying for delays in the government process is not merely a financial matter but a question of justice.

He therefore placed several demands. The first is that, taking the status of the loan account on June 28, 2017 as the basis, loans of up to Rs 2 lakh of the eligible farmers concerned be waived. The second is that the penal interest, late fees and other additional burden accumulated on the accounts because the benefit was not received on time be waived in full. The third is that a special inquiry be held into all farmers who were eligible under the 2017 scheme but remained deprived, and that those found eligible be included as a special case in the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karjmukti Yojana-2026.

Mungantiwar also demanded that farmers left out for technical or administrative reasons be given a special offline verification opportunity. He further said the concerned District Collectors, District Deputy Registrars, District Central Cooperative Banks and other concerned banks should be directed to dispose of the cases of such eligible, deprived farmers immediately.

According to Mungantiwar, the thinking behind the demand is that the loan waiver decision taken in 2017 in the interest of farmers should be completed in a just manner in 2026. Eligible farmers who were left out should get the relief that is their due, and the additional financial burden from delays in implementing the government decision should not fall on them. Following the Chief Minister's directive, it is now hoped that the process towards a positive decision on the issue will gain momentum.