Farmers will be denied loan waiver benefit just like Laadki Bahin, says Wadettiwar | Nagpur News

Nagpur: Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar on Monday warned that farmers could be denied the promised loan waiver, much like women who were later excluded from the Laadki Bahin scheme. He alleged that the state government was resorting to the same tactic of introducing conditions after the elections despite having promised benefits without restrictions during the campaign.“Once Form 16 is filed, the system treats a farmer as an income-tax payer, even if the person has no taxable income. As a result, lakhs of farmers are being excluded from the loan waiver,” he said, without elaborating further .He added that several farmers who work as contract employees — including anganwadi sevikas, police patils and chairpersons of village school management committees — file such forms and are consequently affected.“If a son files the form and the father, who is the actual farmer, is excluded because of it, then what is the point of the loan waiver at all?” Wadettiwar said.He claimed that only around 12 lakh farmers would qualify under the proposed conditions, limiting the waiver to about Rs 12,000 crore. “Farmers will once again be burdened with mounting debt, and that debt will push many towards despair and even death,” he said.Drawing a parallel with the women’s scheme, Wadettiwar said, “No matter what the govt says, 92 lakh women were excluded by imposing conditions, and this hasn’t stayed hidden,” he said.Wadettiwar warned that women would hold the ruling parties accountable in the next election. “When these women return to vote, they will question those seeking their support. They will ask how the treasury was emptied to bring this government to power, and why it is now being claimed that there is no money left for welfare schemes. Yet, there appears to be ample funding for infrastructure freebies and for handing over land worth crores to industrialists at throwaway prices,” he said.He added that had such land been sold at its actual market value, the proceeds could have been used to support farmers and women instead.“This government has lost all sense of moral accountability, which is why it is turning its back on women, farmers and the unemployed. It believes that with no elections on the horizon, it can act without facing any consequences,” he said.