Maha Oppn demands loan waiver probe

The Maharashtra government has finally solved the mystery about why several farmers did not get money in their bank accounts despite explicit orders about loan waivers issued by the state. The officials found that the bank accounts of over 60,000 farmers were linked to wrong Aadhaar numbers.

“When loans were disbursed, linking Aadhaar to accounts was not mandatory,” a government official said. “But during loan waivers, banks were asked to fill a 66-column form for each loan beneficiary, and the system wouldn’t accept information unless Aadhaar details were punched in. We believe it was at this stage that discrepancies were introduced and random Aadhaar numbers were linked to the accounts.”

While the state believes the number (over 60,000 wrong Aadhaar linkages) is not really big (there are about 76 lakh loan account holders and 56 lakh farmers have applied for waiver), the issue could turn acute considering the state has only begun round one of loan waiver. In the first phase, Rs 4,000 crore is to be credited into 8.5 lakh bank accounts by November 15.

“We cannot transfer money into these accounts until the correct Aadhaar details are acquired,” said an official. In some cases, several accounts that have been linked to the same Aadhaar number. “Banks have been asked to sort this out at the earliest,” said the official.

As per the scheme, a farmer will not cash in hand or in his account when the waiver is disbursed; it will be credited to the loan account so that the loans are formally closed.

“As soon as all the details in the system are found to be accurate, banks are expected to get the money within an hour. There is no shortage of funds,” said the official.

State Co-operatives minister, Subhash Deshmukh, said the government was aware of the issue and they will be probing the matter to punish the guilty. The Opposition, however, blames the government for inefficiency and shoddy execution.