Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar proposed many perks and measures for farmers in his budget speech, including a Rs 50,000 incentive for two million farmers who repay their crop loans on time.
Apart from that, he further announced that the state government has decided to waive Rs. 96,415 crore in land development bank debts taken out by 34,788 farmers and a total of ten billion rupees will be invested in the agriculture produce market committee system over the next two years.
A district-by-district cluster will also be developed for agricultural commodity export.
"In my previous budget address, I announced an Rs. 50,000 bonus for farmers who repay their crop loans on time, but because of financial restrictions, it was not distributed."
Today, however, I am relieved that the promise made to the farmers has been kept. I congratulate and thank the farmers who repay their loans regularly.
Around 20 lakh ryots will benefit from this funding. This is projected to cost a total of ten billion rupees.
The dues of the land development bank employees will be paid with a sum of Rs. 27,540 crore.
In the future, the buildings of these land development banks will be used for government projects, he said.
Pawar stated that the state administration wanted the Centre to change the parameters of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) crop insurance scheme and replace it with a model that had been adopted in the Beed district.
Pawar stated that they had requested approval to implement the scheme according to the Beed model in a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Centre has yet to respond, despite Modi's vow to look into it.
Premiums for some crops, such as Chikoo, which is grown in Dahanu, were as high as 80,000 for a 1 lakh cover, according to Pawar. He continued, "Other states (that have opted out) are eager to secure benefits to their farmers." The Beed formula, which goes into effect in 2020, requires insurance firms to reimburse 110 percent of premiums received, with the state government covering the remaining amount.
