The opposition parties disrupted the customary address of the Maharashtra governor S C Jamir on the opening day of the budget session of the state legislature on Monday, demanding total loan waiver for farmers.

The members of the BJP, Shiv Sena, Swatantra Bharat Party (SBP) and Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) were on their feet in the central hall of the Vidhan Bhavan, as soon as Jamir commenced his speech.

The members raised slogans like “total loan waiver for farmers,” and “down with anti-farmer government” as Jamir continued his speech, which was lost in the din.

Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who held a customary tea party for the opposition members, told mediapersons earlier that the state government would submit a proposal to the Centre to increase the land holding limit of two hectares to five hectares so as to benefit the indebted Vidarbha farmers, thousands of whom have ended their lives in past five years.

Deshmukh said the state government wants either increase in the land holding limit to be eligible for the loan waiver or writing off of all farm loans up to Rs 50,000, which would benefit 90 per cent of farmers.

In Vidarbha, the average land holdings are 2.4 hectares, which is slightly above the 2 hectare limit for loan waiver.

The chief minister has acknowledged that most of the farmers in Vidarbha are unlikely to get the benefit, although the region is the least irrigated compared to Western Maharashtra and Khandesh.

Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has indicated that the Centre may increase the land holding limit of two hectares to extend the benefit of farm loan waiver and may provide rebate in interest to the farmers who have repaid the loans.

Speaking at a farmers’ rally at Beed in Marathwada, he also made it clear that the loan waiver is only for one time and asked the farmers to be very careful while availing loans from banks in future.

His statement assumes significance in the background of higher land holdings of farmers in Vidarbha, where 22 indebted farmers committed suicides since the announcement of the loan waiver in the union budget.

Pawar sought to counter the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti’s (VJAS) allegation that the loan waiver did not benefit Vidarbha farmers. He said farmers in Marathwada have been benefited the most with the total loan waiver of Rs 2,918 crore, followed by Western Maharashtra (Rs 2,766 crore), Khandesh (North Maharashtra) (Rs 2,445 crore), Vidarbha (Rs 1,729 crore) and Konkan (Rs 206 crore).