Villagers of Maharashtra overwhelmed by farm loan waivers

Ganoeri (Maharashtra), Mar 31 (ANI): Farmers in Ganoeri village of Aurangabad district of Maharashtra have expressed happiness after their farm loans were waived off recently.

Congress-led Government had on May 23, 2008 raised the total farm loan waiver limit to Rs.716.8 billion from the Rs.600 billion.

"The government has given a lot to us. They have made us loan free. Earlier, we were in shackles but now we are in less shackles. The government has done a lot of favor to us," said GorakhBeraker, a farmer.

The farm loan waiver scheme aims at enabling the beneficiary farmers to apply for fresh loans.

"The problems we were facing are gone now because of the loan waiver. Now we are living in peace. For progress in farming, for our children this is a good help. Such government should come in future. Congress should come in power for next five years," said Dhamodar Bhaskar, another farmer.

Agriculture in India continues to be highly labour intensive and supports nearly 60 percent of a billion-plus population but constitutes only 20 percent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the economy. By Abdul Hadi (ANI)