87 lakh farmers in Maharashtra will be benefitted: Jayant Patil

Mumbai, Feb 29 (UNI) Maharashtra Finance Minister Jayant Patil, while hailing the Union Budget, said it will bring succour to over 87 lakh farmers in Maharashtra.

Mr Patil, quoting the 2001 Census statistics, said Maharashtra has 87 lakh small land holders and they would get relief from the loan waiver as envisaged in the Union Budget.

Speaking about the irrigation projects, Mr Patil maintained that the government should accord the status of a national project to Vidarbha's Gosikhurd project. He welcomed the increase in the AIBP fund saying it will benefit water conservation.

Mr Patil said the raising of the income tax limit will surely make the middle class happy.

Overall, the budget is to the satisfaction of all -- middle-class, farmers, industrialists, and others, he said.

Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, meanwhile, claimed that the loan waiver to farmers has come through the efforts of his party and because of the unity shown by the farmers.

He, however, wanted to know as to how those farmers would be compensated whose lands had been snatched away as they could not repay their debts. Mr Thackeray said the Shiv Sena will closely monitor the implementation of the loan waiver, particularly in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.

UNI JM MAZ RL AS1610