Some got really lucky, others rued

The loan waiver came too late for 55-yr-old Raghunath Tukaram Rajapure from Chambli village, Purandar taluka.

The loan waiver came too late for 55-yr-old Raghunath Tukaram Rajapure from Chambli village, Purandar taluka. Both his sons have already dropped out of school. Rajapure took a loan of Rs 30,000 in 2003, of which he could pay back only Rs 14,000. The remaining Rs 16,000 has been waived off.

8220;My younger son left school after completing Class IX, while my elder son gave up his plans to go for higher education after clearing Class XII. Both my sons have now moved to Pune to run sugarcane juice centres,8221; Rajapure told The Indian Express.

8220;The loan waiver has taken away my burden of repayment of loan, but I do not think farming alone would help me meet the daily needs of my household,8221; he added.

The list of beneficiaries declared on Tuesday in Pune villages ended days of anxiousness for farmers who were not sure if their names would feature in it.

Pandurang Namdeo Shendkar 76 of Chambli village could not believe his ears when the news of his Rs 32,500 loan amount being waived off was given to him. 8220;There was uncertainty over who would feature in the list of beneficiaries. Thankfully, I wasn8217;t left out. The waiver is a big relief for me as I was planning to sell my land to repay the debt,8221; he said.

In Bobgaon, 60-yr-old Ramchandra Somaji Phadtare, who owns 6 acres of land, was unhappy as he was eligible only for partial loan waiver. 8220;I have to repay Rs 50,000, but would get only a partial waiver. I have to start sowing, but I don8217;t have money. I can8217;t even take fresh loan as it would add to the burden of my existing debt.8221; Bhairu Maruti Kamthe is unhappy as his loan of Rs 45,000 would not be completely waived off even though he tills only two acres of land. 8220;Our 6.5 acres of land is registered in the name of my father. Me and my two brothers and do farming separately in approximately 2 acres each. However, I am not eligible for the complete loan waiver as the records show the three fields as a single piece of land.8221;

The loan waiver conditions were most favourable for Laxman Raghunath Kamthe as the 22 acres of land owned by his late father was equally distributed between him and his four siblings. The pending dues of a loan of Rs 2 lakh, too, was thus divided. 8220;Each of us got the responsibility of repayment of Rs 40,000 each,8221; he said, adding that all the five of them got the loan waiver as they had less than five of acre land transferred in their names.