Government has money for loan waivers of industrialists but not for farmers and employees: Maharashtra Congress

Nana Patole. File Pic

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Tuesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on issues related to farmers in the state and the ongoing strike of Maharashtra government employees.

In an official press release, the congress said, around 20 lakh employees in the state have gone on strike demanding implementation of the old pension scheme. Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole alleged that the government is saying that the old pension will be a financial burden. He said that it has money to waive crores of loans of a handful of industrialists but has no money for farmers and government employees in the state, it is a hypocrisy of the government in the state and the BJP government at the center.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Patole said that due to the strike of the government employees, the administrative systems have come to a standstill, the people are being affected to a great extent, so it is necessary for the government to mediate and ask the employees on strike to withdraw their strike immediately.

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He said, "The old pension scheme has been implemented in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Why can't the Shinde-Fadnavis government in Maharashtra do the same that Congress-ruled states can do? The BJP-led government in the state should find a solution to the demand of implementing the old pension scheme of the government employees, otherwise it should step down."

Patole further said that lakhs of farmers from Nashik are marching to Vidhan Bhavan, their feet are bruised, sore by constantly walking, but, the state government has no mercy on them. This government is not helping the farmers. By giving only a Rs 300 subsidy for onion, the farmers are suffering. In Chhattisgarh, the Congress government has given a price of Rs 3000 and a bonus of Rs 600 for paddy. The Shinde-Fadnavis government in the state is giving Rs.350 only. The Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) government was giving a bonus of Rs 700 to the paddy farmers. The BJP government is only for industrialists, it is not the government of the poor, farmers and government employees.