Will ‘Alladin Lamp’ of Uddhav Thackeray light up farmers’ lives?

Nagpur: As the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues ranting over giving aid to the farmers, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is quietly making what may prove to be an ‘Alladin Lamp’ for bringing succor to the tillers in the state, and rid it of farmland suicides in three years.

According to official sources, a major policy document — ‘Farm Credit Policy - 2020-2021’ — has been finalized and the draft sent for consideration of the Agriculture and Finance departments, and is billed to be “a trendsetter not only for Maharashtra but also for entire India”.

For the first time, it has proposed regulators for all types of loans, focused on the core issues of credit, crop patterns, and input cost reduction with proper outpost cost interventions.

Prepared by Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM) President Kishore Tiwari, it has set the “goal of making all farmers ‘debt-free’ by April 2020", and picked the best from the M. S. Swaminathan Committee Report and the Narendra Jadhav Committee Report recommendations.

On the policy reforms front, it has mooted immediate restoration of farm credit and widening the existing 30 percent farmers covered by the banking network to 100 percent on top priority, and levying an ‘Agro-Strengthening Special Tax’ to tackle state funds crisis.

It seeks to advance the farm credit from April 1 - May 15, 2020, to help the farmers prepare for the Monsoon agriculture season in a stress-free environment, suggests the VNSSM document, accessed. (IANS)

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