Maharashtra rains: Sharad Pawar urges loan waiver for flood-hit farmers amid 'wet drought' calls from Opposition

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder and former Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar has asked the Maharashtra government to announce a loan waiver for farmers affected by floods in Maharashtra.

Pawar said that farmers and common people across the state have suffered immense losses due to the floods and the rural economy has totally collapsed. Even urban areas are bearing the brunt of the floods in the state.

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"The government needs to prepare a rehabilitation plan on a war footing and implement it across all flood-affected districts," he urged.

"Financial institutions should immediately stop recovery of loans from farmers and small businessmen affected by the flood, as their lives have to be rebuilt from scratch. Hence, the state government should announce a loan waiver for affected farmers," Pawar added.

Amid Pawar's loan waiver demand, Jayant Patil, a senior NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader, has written a letter to the state governor, urging him to ask the government to call a special session of the state legislature to discuss the flood situation and related issues in the state.

In his letter, Patil has stated that farmers across Marathwada—and other districts like Solapur and Jalgaon—have totally lost their crops.

"Even the soil in their farms has been washed away. The farmers have become desperate, and hence, the government should be asked to call a special three-day session of the state legislature to discuss the floods and related issues," he added in the letter.

Farmers in Maharashtra have been facing nature's fury for the last ten years in the form of floods or storms.

The government has spent nearly Rs 54000 crore to help the affected farmers over the last decade. This year's floods are expected to have damaged nearly 60 lakh hectares of farmland across districts.

Opposition parties have also recently been demanding again that the Devendra Fadnavis-led government should declare a "wet drought" in the state.