Maharashtra government clears Rs 9.9 crore for farm loan waiver campaign | Mumbai News

After weeks of uncertainty caused by a delayed monsoon, continuous rainfall has revived farming activity across rural Pune with paddy transplantation gaining pace in water-filled fields. “We thought we would not be able to cultivate our fields, but the good rains have finally arrived,” said Dipesh Chande, a farmer from Mulshi. “We started sowing late this year, but the rainfall now looks very good,” said Bhushan Patil, a farmer near Nandgaon

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has cleared a sum of Rs 9.9 crore towards publicity of its farm loan waiver scheme, the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karzamukti Yojana 2026.The loan waiver scheme, which was among the Mahayuti government’s electoral promises, was introduced on June 2 this year. It is meant to benefit over 54.5 lakh farmers and is expected to cost the exchequer Rs 36,585 crore at a time when it faces a debt of Rs 11 lakh crore.It is among the many sops introduced by the state government, including the pre-poll Mukhya Mantri Majhi Laadki Bahin Yojana which already costs the state over Rs 36,000 crore annually.The government resolution justifies the loan waiver publicity expense by saying, “For effective implementation of the scheme and to ensure that beneficiaries receive information in a transparent manner, it is necessary to give wide publicity to the scheme.”So far, the government has announced a list of 16.9 lakh beneficiaries from the 30.6 lakh farmers for the loan waiver. Of these, 7 lakh farmers have overdue loans from district central cooperative banks and 9.6 lakh from nationalised banks. This amounts to loans worth Rs 13,336 crore. The total funds estimated for the loan waiver scheme are Rs 36,585 crore