Members of the Congress and NCP also targetted the BJP-led NDA government over its "failure" to extend the financial aid to the farmers whose crop was damaged due to pink bollworm infestation and hailstorms
Dhananjay Munde
The Maharashtra Legislative Council was adjourned for the day today after members of the Opposition parties created a ruckus over issues concerning farmers including the "tardy" implementation of the loan waiver scheme. Members of the Congress and NCP also targetted the BJP-led NDA government over its "failure" to extend the financial aid to the farmers whose crop was damaged due to pink bollworm infestation and hailstorms.
As soon as Legislative Council chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar called for the commencement of Question Hour, he was interrupted by the Opposition members who demanded a day-long discussion on the farm loan waiver. Following unprecedented protests by farmers, the state government last June announced a Rs 34,000 crore loan waiver for farmers under the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana (CSMSSY). However, the government has invited the ire of the Opposition parties who have alleged that the scheme has been delayed and failed to reach all the intended beneficiaries. Moving an adjournment motion, Leader of Opposition Dhananjay Munde (NCP) said the farmers are yet to receive benefits of the loan waiver scheme. Munde said not a single farmer in the 17 out of the total 36 districts in the state has received the money so far under the CSMSSY. "NCP leaders, as part of the party's 'Halla bol' morcha, have been touring the state to meet farmers. In the 17 districts I personally visited, I did not meet a single farmer who received money as part of the loan waiver scheme," Munde said.
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He demanded the list of 31 lakh farmers who the government claimed to have received benefits of the scheme, be tabled before the House. Munde said "anti-farmer" policies of the government have multiplied the woes of the farmers hit by natural calamities. "The government last December announced a compensation for the crops affected by pink bollworms. This money has not been given to farmers yet. Similarly, no compensation is paid to farmers hit by hailstorms," the NCP leader said. He said the government "shamefully treated farmers as criminals by making them stand with slates in their hands as part of the panchnama (assessment) process".
Munde was referring to claims made by farmers in Osmanabad district that they were made to pose with slates and photographed like criminals by the administration while assessing the damage caused to their crops by a hailstorm earlier this month. As the slogan-shouting Opposition members trooped into the Well, the chairman adjourned the Upper House for 20 minutes. When proceedings began after 20 minutes, members of ruling BJP and Shiv Sena also stormed the Well shouting slogans against members of the Congress and NCP. The chairman then adjourned the proceedings for the day.
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