Devendra Fadnavis's historic U-turn: The promised Rs 31,000 crore may not be waived off entirely

Just after the farmers protest in Maharashtra were put to rest, rumours of CM Devendra Fadnavis turning his back on his promises have taken the readers by surprise. The steering committee comprising of farmer leaders from across Maharashtra announced the end of their agitation after a three-hour meeting with the high-powered Group of Ministers at the Sahyadri state guesthouse. 

Inside sources, however say that the government is unlikely to waive off the entire Rs 31,000 crore loan amount. Chandrakant Patil, head of the GoM and revenue minister said to media houses, "After discussions with farmer leaders in the steering committee, I spoke to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. I’m happy to announce that the government has agreed to almost all the demands and hence they have decided not to go ahead with their agitation now."

He further added, "The government has principally agreed to their demand of blanket and immediate loan waiver. Accordingly, small and marginalised farmers would start getting loans from tomorrow and a committee would be appointed to decide the criteria for loan waiver of other farmers. The committee would also have farmer leaders as members on it."

The CM had announced on June 2 that loan waiver for small and marginalised farmers will be implemented on October 31. However, the government decided on an immediate waiver. This is, no doubt, a victory for the farmers, said the leader of the steering committee.The farmers had also demanded that cases against them be removed. To this, the minister said that cases, except those involving charges of theft and damage would be withdrawn. On the demand of the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission, Patil said that the Centre will have to decide on that since it comes under the Centre's purview. The CM is also likely to lead a delegation of farmers on this issue to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, in the background of the recent rumours surrounding the loan waiver, MP and leader of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana Raju Shetti said, "If the government goes back on its word, the agitation after July 25 would be bigger and more intense."

He also added, "This is a temporary victory. The real remedy for farmers’ woes would come only when we devise a sustainable system to ensure that they get better rates for farm produce than their production cost. Recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission are important from that perspective."

Farmer leader, Raghunath Patil, speaking to the New Indian Express, sounded optimistic. He said, "We had positive talks with the GoM and most of our demands have been met. Hence, we have decided not to go ahead with our agitation of road and rail blockade as announced earlier."

• maharashtra
• devendra fadnavis