State expedites scrutiny, sets up war room to meet June 30 deadline for farm loan waiver call: Bharne

Pune: State agriculture minister Dattatray Bharne told TOI on Saturday that a "positive decision" was expected on farm loan waiver before the June 30 deadline as govt's dedicated war room was in the last phase of data scrutiny.Govt had earlier appointed a committee headed by retired IAS officer and economic adviser Pravin Pardeshi to assess the status of farm loans across the state. "The committee was instructed to submit its report before the first week of April. This report is crucial as govt's decision on the loan waiver will be based on its findings," Bharne said.
With less than six weeks remaining for the committee to submit its report, govt has activated a war room to speed up the examination of data collected from across Maharashtra. "All banks and financial institutions were asked to provide detailed reports on farm loan status. The data, covering both short- and long-term pending farm loans, is vast. The war room has been set up to scrutinise this information, which will form the basis of the committee's final report," a senior cooperation department official said.The push for a farm loan waiver gained momentum after former MLA and Prahar Janshakti Party founder Bachchu Kadu led a large-scale agitation last Oct. Following the protests, CM Devendra Fadnavis met Kadu and other farmer leaders in Mumbai and assured them that a decision on the waiver would be announced before June 30 this year. The agitation was suspended after the assurance."Govt is committed to granting a farm loan waiver, and the decision will be announced before the deadline. The committee is working through certain technical aspects, but the final decision will be historic," Bharne added.