31 lakh Maha farmers benefited from loan waiver: Minister

The Shiv Sena-led government, which had promised to give relief to farmers after coming to power late last year, has deposited Rs 19,500 crore in the bank accounts of the 31 lakh beneficiary peasants, he said.Bhuses comments came in the wake of the Leader of the Opposition in Council Pravin Darekar of the BJP targeting the MVA government over agrarian issues earlier in the day.

Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Dadaji Bhuse on Tuesday told the legislative council that 31 lakh farmers have benefited from the loan waiver initiative of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. The Shiv Sena-led government, which had promised to give relief to farmers after coming to power late last year, has deposited Rs 19,500 crore in the bank accounts of the 31 lakh beneficiary peasants, he said.

Bhuses comments came in the wake of the Leader of the Opposition in Council Pravin Darekar of the BJP targeting the MVA government over agrarian issues earlier in the day. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak and without any assistance from the Centre, we deposited Rs 19,500 crore in the accounts of 31 lakh farmers, Bhuse said in the Council, while replying to a debate on the last day of the two-day winter session of the state legislature.

Bhuse said the government gave flood-hit farmers of the state assistance of Rs 10,000 per hectare and Rs 25,000 per hectare (for fruit cultivators). This help, the minister said, is more than the assistance offered by the previous Devendra Fadnavis government to flood-hit farmers.

Earlier, Rs 6,800 help (per hectare) help was offered to farmers hit by floods and heavy rains, he added. The minister alleged that despite theMaharashtra government requesting fourtimes to the Centre, it did not send a team to assess the damage caused by cyclone Nisarga (which hit the state in early June).

''Our government approved Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 (per hectare) for farmers without waiting for the Centre's help, Bhuse added..