Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said he had ordered an inquiry into why 813 farmers from Mumbai city and its suburbs feature on the list of beneficiaries in the state’s farm loan waiver scheme, PTI reported.
In the district-wise list released by the Chief Minister’s Office on Monday, 694 cultivators are from Mumbai city and 119 from its suburbs – both urbanised regions with little scope for farming.
“Even I was surprised to find these two cities in the list. The beneficiary farmers from these two districts will be scrutinised thoroughly before their loan waiver is sanctioned,” Fadnavis said.
On June 24, the Maharashtra government had announced a loan waiver package of Rs 34,000 crore for farmers in the state. Under the scheme, eligible farmers will get a loan waiver of up to Rs 1.5 lakh on dues outstanding till June 30, 2016.
The Congress has demanded an apology from Fadnavis for “misleading” farmers with a “fake” list of beneficiaries. “We demand an unconditional apology from the chief minister as he has misled people by giving false data,” said Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Sachin Sawant. “He has played with the emotions of farmers.”
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