Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, gave the administration instructions on Tuesday to expand the incentive scheme for farmers who have not missed payments on their crop loans.
Shinde added that certain clauses in the scheme must be relaxed as they were too severe.
Farmers who obtain crop loans from banks and return them on time will receive an incentive of Rs 50,000 under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Crop Loan Scheme. The initiative would help around 20 lakh farmers. The MVA government began disbursing funds under the scheme on July 1 and has budgeted Rs 10,000 crore for it.
Sena MP Dhairyashil Mane and MLA Prakash Abitkar sent Shinde a message on Tuesday highlighting the fact that thousands of farmers were being denied this incentive because of several requirements outlined in the eligibility criterion.
Abitkar drew attention to the fact that farmers who have already received compensation for crop losses brought on by the floods in 2018–19 are ineligible for the scheme's incentive.
Additionally, while loans obtained and repaid from banks or other financial organisations for the years 2017 through 2020 are eligible under this scheme, loans obtained by nationalised and district cooperative banks are subject to various financial years. "To guarantee that more farmers can take advantage of the scheme, we will remove the tight requirements. The government has been requested to send out updated notifications, "Shinde said.
