Farm loan waiver scheme net may be widened: Sonia

The scope of the Rs.60,000-crore farm loan waiver package will be extended and dry-land farmers having more than five acres will also be able to benefit from the scheme.

This was indicated by Congress President and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at a rally in Osmanabad in Maharashtra today.

However, many farmers who attended the rally were sceptical about the promises by Gandhi and said they expected more concrete assurances.

Gandhi was addressing her first public rally outside New Delhi after the announcement of the loan waiver in the Budget.

Osmanabad, around 800 km from Mumbai in the south-east of the state, is one of the most backward districts of Maharashtra. Like Vidarbha, irrigation facilities in the Marathwada region in general and Osmanabad district in particular are poor, though land holdings are bigger in comparison with western Maharashtra.

A large number of suicides have been reported from this cotton-cultivating region. However, unlike Vidarbha, the plight of the Marathwada farmers didn't get much media attention.

Gandhi's announcement assumes significance as the Congress is trying to rebuild its lost fortunes in this region.

Referring to the demand by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Gandhi said, "Many Congress MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, have demanded that the limit for the loan waiver should be extended to include a majority of the farmers. The party will take up the issue with the government. I have confidence that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram will take steps to address the issue," she said.

The area was once a Congress bastion but due to careful nursing by the Sena-BJP and the division within the Congress, the party has only 10 MLAs out of the 46 the region sends to the Assembly. The list includes Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who comes from the neighbouring district of Latur. While the BJP-Sena has 24 MLAs, Congress partner NCP has 12 MLAs from the region.

Out of the region's eight Lok Sabha seats, in 2004, the Sena-BJP won six, including Osmanabad, while the NCP won two.

Rajabhau Kolhe, who belongs to Wakdi village in Kalamb Taluka of Osmanabad, owns 11 acres.

"We have been hearing assurances from politicians for a number of years. Nothing happens. Let's see what happens to this assurance by Soniaji," he said, demanding that the loan amount should have been the criterion for the waiver and not the land size.

"The waiver has happened after the entire farming in this region has been devastated," he said.

Govind Kale from Tarola village near Osmanabad said he owned five acres but due to the failure of the sugarcane crop last year, he could not repay the loan. Kale was last month forced by bank officials to sell his land to repay the loan of Rs 85,000. "I came to this rally with a lot of hope but there is nothing here for a farmer like me." he said.

Meanwhile, Gandhi gave clear indication that she was happy with Deshmukh's performance and put all speculation regarding a change of guard at Mantralya, the state government's headquarters, at rest.

"Congress governments since Independence have represented development of all sections of society and Deshmukh's government in Maharashtra is headed on the same path", she said.