TIRUCHY: Citing the Maharashtra Government's crop loan waiver to the tune of Rs 36,000 crore, which would benefit up to Rs 2 lakh for small and marginal farmers, the farmers' associations in Tamil Nadu demanded that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay revise the earlier crop loan waiver announcement as per the election manifesto of the party.
PS Masilamani, general secretary, CPI-affiliated Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam, said the Maharashtra government on Tuesday announced a crop loan waiver to the tune of Rs 36,585 crore, which would benefit around 56 lakh farmers who will get waiver benefits up to Rs 2 lakh. The Maharashtra government also announced an incentive of Rs 50,000 to the farmers who are not defaulters.
"This is a major announcement, and the farmers would get actual benefits, but in Tamil Nadu, the crop loan waiver announcement was a disappointing one. No farmer can avail the benefits due to various conditions," Masilamani said.
He also stated that the State Level Technical Committee (SLTC) of the Cooperative department has approved the scale finance of Rs 36,000 per acre, but the current loan waiver announcement would allow the farmers to avail a loan of only 40 to 60 per cent of the land they own, and this would never help the small farmers to avail the loan waiver.
"We demand a revised loan waiver announcement with the total loan waiver for all the small and marginal farmers," Masilamani stressed.
Meanwhile, the secretary of Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Protection Association, Swamimalai Sundara Vimalnathan, said that Tamil Nadu used to be a model for the other states in supporting the farmers. "But this time, the Maharashtra government had made a historical announcement of a loan waiver, which would really help the farming community.
He said that the Tamil Nadu government's announcement on loan waiver is 'misguiding' and disappointing the farmers. "The Maharashtra government had not categorised the farmers into small and marginal, but it waived the loans uniformly. This 'unfortunate' announcement by the Tamil Nadu government would reflect in the upcoming by-polls and the local body polls," Vimalnathan said.
He also appealed to Chief Minister Joseph Vijay to allow the farmers from Tamil Nadu to brief him on their genuine crop loan waiver demand.
In the meantime, the farmers continued to protest in Thanjavur on Wednesday, demanding that the loan waiver announcement be revised. They also demanded that the Chief Minister fulfil the promise given to the farmers during the election campaign. They also threatened to campaign against the government in the upcoming local body polls if no fresh announcement of a loan waiver was made.