Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's Controversial Remarks on Farm Loan Waiver

Add TNIE As A Trusted Source MUMBAI: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar stirred a controversy by questioning why farmers need everything free of cost and their continuous demand for loan waiver. He said this habit of demanding loan waiver is not good at all. Speaking at a rally, DCM Ajit Pawar asked why farmers are always demanding a farm loan waiver. He said farm loans were waived off during former Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's time, and then by the state governments led by Devendra Fadnavis and Uddhav Thackeray. He added that farm loan waiver is not a thing that should be done often. "The state government gives the crop loan at zero interest rate, still farmers demand loan waiver. This is not a good habit at all. We wanted to get elected and come into power, therefore we promised farm loan waiver in 2024 Maharashtra state assembly elections. Now, farmers are demanding farm loan waiver but this decision is not easy because it takes thousands of crores to execute it," Pawar said, slamming farmers' community. This is not the first time Pawar has landed in controversy. In 2013, during an acute water shortage in Maharashtra, Pawar had stirred a controversy when he asked if he should urinate into a dam when there is no water. Pawar's recent statement casts a shadow overChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' promiseto execute farm loan waiver by the end of June next year.