Opposition protests in Maharashtra Assembly over inflation and LPG price hike

Opposition parties intensified their attack on the Maharashtra government during the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature staging a protest on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan on Tuesday against rising prices and the recent increase in LPG cylinder ratesLeaders and legislators of the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA gathered outside the legislature complex and raised slogans accusing the government of failing to control inflation and increasing the financial burden on householdsThe protesters alleged that rising prices of essential commodities and cooking gas were affecting families across the state particularly women and lowerincome householdsDuring the demonstration Opposition MLAs raised slogans including An inflationfree nation a BJPfree India The government that is forcing our beloved sisters back to cooking on traditional stoves Reduce inflation or vacate your chairs and The public is suffering while the government is getting richerThe protest marked the latest in a series of demonstrations by Opposition parties during the monsoon session with inflation and farmers issues emerging as key points of confrontation between the ruling alliance and the OppositionFarm loan waiver remains major Opposition demandThe agitation over inflation comes a day after Opposition parties staged a similar protest on the steps of the legislature demanding a comprehensive farm loan waiverThe demonstration on Monday was led by Shiv Sena UBT leaders Aaditya Thackeray and Ambadas Danve along with Congress leader Satej Patil Opposition legislators accused the government of imposing restrictive conditions that could prevent many farmers from benefiting from the recently announced loan waiver schemeThe farmers should get complete loan waiver The government should implement it the protesters demandedThe Opposition has consistently argued that the scheme should provide broader relief without what it describes as technical hurdles and eligibility restrictionsOpposition questions conditions attached to schemeThe Maharashtra government has announced a major farm debt relief package but Opposition leaders claim several conditions attached to the programme could exclude a significant number of eligible farmersEarlier this month NCP SP MLA Rohit Pawar also protested against what he termed stringent provisions in the scheme and called for a blanket farm loan waiverOpposition leaders have maintained that the states agrarian distress requires wider relief measures and easier access to government supportDetails of the loan waiver programmeOn June 2 the Maharashtra cabinet approved a Rs 36585 crore farm loan waiver scheme aimed at benefiting nearly 56 lakh cultivators across the stateThe programme named the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karjamukti Yojana provides loan waivers of up to Rs 2 lakh and consists of three components mdash loan waiver onetime settlement OTS and incentive benefitsThe government has clarified that there will be no landholding criterion for eligibility under the schemeUnder the loan waiver component farmers with outstanding shortterm crop loans including principal and interest of up to Rs 2 lakh will be eligible for complete debt relief The loans must have been disbursed between April 1 2019 and March 31 2025 remained overdue as of September 30 2025 and remained unpaid until March 31 2026OTS provision for farmers with higher duesFarmers whose outstanding dues exceed Rs 2 lakh will be covered under the onetime settlement component of the schemeUnder this provision borrowers will first have to clear the amount exceeding Rs 2 lakh Once that payment is made they will become eligible for a waiver of up to Rs 2 lakhThe government has set March 31 2027 as the deadline for such farmers to deposit their share of the outstanding dues and avail themselves of the benefitsWith both inflation and farm distress dominating discussions during the monsoon session the Opposition is expected to continue pressing the government on these issues in the days ahead