Nagpur: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced a farm loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh per person, which the Opposition decried as a breach of trust, saying it does not include assistance to farmers who suffered heavy losses in the unseasonal rains in October this year. He also announced a dream welfare scheme of a Rs 10 meal scheme to be launched initially at 50 places across the state.

The announcement came on the last day of the one-week winter session of the state legislature on Saturday. The previous government too had announced a Rs 38,000 crore farm loan waiver three years ago with a cap of Rs 1.50 lakh, which is still being implemented. The Maha Vikas Aghadi's scheme, named after social reformer Mahatma Phule, will be unconditional because the farmers will not need to apply online or produce documents. Like the Devendra Fadnavis government's earlier scheme, this loan waiver would not be applicable to public representatives and government employees. The scheme would be taken to farmers through a special publicity drive. The farmers who had taken loan before September 2019 would be eligible for the waiver.