Maharashtra loan waiver: Disbursal of amount to start from October 1

The disbursement of amount to farmers under the Maharashtra government's crop loan waiver scheme, will start from October 1, a state minister said here.

As on, total 22,40,943 farmers have enrolled for the loan waiver scheme, of which 18,85,457 have actually applied for it, state co-operation minister Subhash Deshmukh said.

"We will allow applications for the loan waiver scheme upto September 1 and from October 1, the process of disbursement of funds for the loan waiver will commence," Deshmukh said.

He was speaking to reporters here after the first meeting of the cabinet sub-committee, which was formed to deliberate on the intricacies in the implementation of the 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Krushi Sanman Yojana'.

Apart from Deshmukh, revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar, transport minister Diwakar Raote, minister for water resources Girish Mahajan and additional chief secretary of the finance department, D K Jain, were also present at the meeting.

"The government has made arrangements for free applications at our 26,000 facilitation centres across the state. Still, we are receiving complaints that money is being demanded for applications. We have directed that action be taken against such centres," Deshmukh said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced the Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme worth in June, following aggressive protests by farmers in the state.