Maharashtra unveils 6,200 crore farm relief package
30 Dec 2008
The Maharashtra government has announced a farm loan waiver package of around Rs6,200 crore that would benefit around forty lakh farmers in the state who were outside the purview of the earlier Rs71,000 crore central package.
Announcing the election-eve package, the newly constituted ministry led by Ashok Chavan said the package would include loans taken for agriculture-related business like goat-rearing, fishery, poultry, dairy and irrigation, which were not covered by the earlier central package.
The new farm relief package would reach out benefits to the farmers who have taken loans before 1997 and will also reward those who have been repaying the loans regularly, Chavan told the state assembly on the concluding day of its winter session.
The new relief package also offers a one-time-settlement concession of up to Rs20,000 for the farmers who have taken loans in the current season if they pay the remainder in one go.
The government also has taken upon itself the responsibility for paying the examination fees and bearing the medical expenses of children of farmers identified as suffering from acute distress by the Narendra Jadhav committee.
