Pardeshi to head panel on agri woes, farmers' debt trap: Rohit Pawar calls it delaying tactics

Mumbai, Oct 30 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Thursday appointed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' Principal Economic Adviser Pravin Pardeshi as head of a high-level committee to recommend short-term and long-term measures aimed at freeing farmers from recurring debt trap and improving their living standards.

A government resolution (GR) said the committee will study and suggest reforms to bring "transformative change" in the farm sector and in the lives of cultivators who continue to fall into debt despite multiple loan waiver schemes.

The panel will include senior officials from the revenue, finance, agriculture, and cooperation departments, along with representatives from the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, and the Information and Technology Department, the GR said, adding it has been asked to submit its report within six months.

"Despite schemes such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana (2017) and Mahatma Jotirao Phule Shetkari Karjamukti Yojana (2019), many cultivators remain trapped in debt due to recurrent droughts, unseasonal rains, and natural calamities," the GR said.

Pardeshi's panel may invite experts and officials from other departments as needed, the GR said.

Eligible members will receive allowances as per norms, it added.

Hitting out at the Fadnavis government, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, in a post on X, said, "The GR seems to be a move aimed at buying time." He questioned the need for such a committee when the government could directly implement a loan waiver.

"Has that committee even held a single meeting since then?" Pawar asked while referring to a panel set up two months ago while persuading MLA Bachchu Kadu to end his hunger strike.

Pawar urged the government to "stop misleading farmers" and immediately announce a comprehensive loan waiver.

Incidentally, former MLA Bachchu Kadu had led a protest in Amravati earlier this week demanding an effective debt relief policy and immediate financial support to farmers affected by erratic weather conditions. PTI ND BNM