Maharashtra:100 farmers linked to single Aadhaar number, officials huff and flutter

The Maharashtra government's attempt of online registration for loan waiver implementation has sent the authorities into a tizzy as names over 100 farmers have been found linked to a single Aadhaar number.

The state government had earlier stressed on online registration by farmers with their Aadhaar, which is a unique identification. The government has said that the Aadhaar-based linking will avoid any duplication as well as fake accounts getting the benefit of the loan waiver.

A senior official from the Maharashtra cooperation department showed a list of potential beneficiaries of farmers having a common Aadhaar number, which has become a cause of concern for the government.

“We always thought that the Aadhaar number will be our key to check fake beneficiaries. Now, we don't know how to address this challenge with so many farmers showing the same Aadhaar number. If we have to carry out a manual check, which will take weeks. The farming community is already agitated over the delay in implementation of the scheme,” the official said.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called an urgent meeting with bankers on Wednesday to address issues like this that crop up in the way of speedy implementation of the scheme.

Officials of some banks also admitted that the data they received from the online registration portal —Aapale Sarkar - varies from the data in their records.

The names of some farmers are missing and some do not match with the land size or type of loan.

“In many cases the principal amount and interest are not matching. It leads to suspicion. Unless the state officials have verified the account and its loan amount, we cannot consider that account for loan waiver,” a senior official of a leading public sector bank.

The state government had last week released a sum of ₹4,000 crore under the first phase of the over ₹34,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme.

Responding to the Opposition's criticism against the online system of filling forms for availing the scheme, Fadnavis had said last week had that not been done, the banks would have mismanaged funds.

The Centre had earlier this year made Aadhaar mandatory for availing crop insurance policies.

As per the agriculture ministry's directive, banks were asked to persuade farmers to furnish Aadhaar identification card at the time of sanction/renewal/ disbursement/inspection of the loan or on visit at bank branches.