Mungantiwar urges CM Fadnavis to extend loan waiver to farmers left out in 2017

MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at his official residence, 'Varsha', in Mumbai on September 28. He demanded that eligible farmers who were left out of the 2017 loan waiver now be given its benefit. Following the demand, Fadnavis has directed the Principal Secretary of the Cooperation Department to take the necessary action immediately.

Fadnavis was Chief Minister in 2017. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana was implemented under his leadership on June 28, 2017, giving indebted farmers in the state major financial relief. However, some farmers, despite being eligible, could not avail of it for technical, administrative, banking and procedural reasons.

The state government has announced the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Farmers' Debt Relief Scheme in 2026. Mungantiwar told the Chief Minister that this new scheme is the right opportunity to do justice to farmers who were eligible in 2017 but were left out.

Mungantiwar said the basic question is why an eligible farmer, who was not at fault and missed the waiver only for administrative or technical reasons, should pay the price. According to him, because the waiver was not received on time, interest, penal interest, late fees and other charges kept accumulating on those loan accounts. The scheme's benefit was due, but the debt burden grew instead. He said that eligible farmers paying for delays in the government process is not merely a matter of money but a matter of justice.

On this basis he put forward several demands. First, 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 should be waived. Second, the penal interest, late fees and other additional burden that built up on the accounts because the scheme's benefit was not received on time should be waived in full.

The third demand was that a special inquiry be held into all farmers who were eligible under the 2017 scheme but were left out, and that those found eligible be included as a special case in the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Farmers' Debt Relief Scheme-2026. The fourth was that farmers who missed out for technical or administrative reasons be given a chance at a special offline verification.

Mungantiwar also said that the concerned district collectors, district deputy registrars, district central cooperative banks and other banks concerned should be directed to settle the cases of such eligible farmers immediately. According to him, the thinking behind the demand is that the loan waiver decision, begun in 2017 for the welfare of farmers, should be properly completed in 2026, and that the additional burden of delayed implementation should not fall on farmers.

Fadnavis took note of the demand and has directed the Principal Secretary of the Cooperation Department to take the necessary action. This is expected to speed up the process of a positive decision on the cases of eligible farmers left out of the 2017 loan waiver.