Farmers use crop insurance money on weddings, says Maharashtra agriculture minister; Congress demands his sacking

Nashik/Mumbai: Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has claimed that farmers do not spend money received from agriculture schemes for the intended purposes, but instead use it for engagement ceremonies and weddings.

The Congress attacked the minister over his controversial remarks, terming them an insult to the farmers and demanded that he be sacked.

Kokate made the statement on Friday during a visit to a few villages affected by the recent unseasonal rain and hailstorms in the Nashik district.

He seemed to digress after a farmer asked whether those crop growers who repay their loans regularly can get a loan waiver.

“What do you do with the money after getting the loan waiver? Do you invest it in agriculture,” asked the minister.

Kokate belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and represents the Sinnar constituency in the Nashik district, where crops like onions and grapes were recently hit due to untimely rain and hailstorms.

“Farmers wait for 5-10 years, and do not repay the loan. The government will give you money to invest in agriculture. This money is for water pipelines, irrigation and farm ponds. The government makes capital investments. Do farmers make such an investment?

“Farmers say they want crop insurance money but use it on engagement ceremonies and weddings,” Kokate claimed.

State Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal on Saturday accused the minister of insulting farmers and demanded he be expelled from the cabinet.

“Is the government doing a favour by providing financial assistance to farmers? It is public money, not Manikarao Kokate’s family’s,” he told reporters here.

The BJP-led Mahayuti government, also comprising NCP and Shiv Sena, never misses a chance to insult farmers, he said, demanding that Kokate publicly apologise for his remarks.

“The state’s agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate is so power drunk that he constantly insults farmers. After calling them beggars, he has insulted them once again by asking strange questions like ‘what do you do with loan waivers - use it for weddings or engagements’,” said Sapkal.

The Mahayuti had promised to waive farmers’ loans after coming to power but is yet to fulfil it, he said. The government now says that there is no money for a loan waiver, claimed Sapkal.

“If the government policies were favourable to agriculture and farmers, why would they depend on those schemes? The Maharashtra government under the BJP-led coalition is anti-farmer,” he said.

“When a handful of industrialists were given loan waivers of Rs 16 lakh crore, neither Kokate nor the government mustered the courage to question it,” he claimed.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has advised ministers to be polite, but they do not even respect the CM, and instead talk “nonsense”, said the Congress leader.

Farmers are not getting proper remuneration for agricultural products and are dying by suicide every day, claimed Sapkal.

“The agriculture minister or the Mahayuti government don’t even feel ashamed. On the contrary, they ask the farmers strange questions. Remember, the farmers will bring down this power grab,” he added.