The National Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar has indicated that it may launch an agitation against the Devendra Fadnavis government after Diwali over the delay in providing loan waiver packages to farmers.

Addressing the media after chairing a meeting of the party’s executive committee on Tuesday, Pawar said the Maharashtra government has not been able to handle loan waivers in an efficient manner. The forms issued to the farmers are complicated, seeking numerous number details, he said.

If a farmer makes an error while filing the details, then the onus is on the farmer. Plus, he is also liable to return the loan amount along with a penalty. These are onerous conditions and not acceptable to the NCP, he said.

Pawar further said the NCP leadership will meet again in Aurangabad on November 5 and decide on the future course of action.

Of the ₹35,000-crore worth loan waivers the Maharashtra government had declared, only ₹10,000-12,000 crore has been disbursed, he said.

In June, the Fadnavis government had declared a ₹35,000-crore farm loan waiver, following a massive strike by farmers across the State.

One of the waiver conditions was that loans up to only ₹1.5 lakh can be waived off from each farmer, which was not acceptable to a large number of farmer organisations.

The farmers were also saddled with a number of eligibility criteria, making the whole process of obtaining a waiver extremely cumbersome, he said.

Unemployment concerns

Pawar also said he was concerned with the economic slowdown and rising unemployment under the NDA government. Large companies, including L&T, have laid off workforces, which is a very worrying situation.

The issue of unemployment will also be taken up at the party meeting in November, he said.

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