MUMBAI: The state government's loan waiver scheme has perhaps found the unlikeliest of beneficiaries. The lucky ones are 56 prisoners lodged in the Nagpur and Nashik central jails. Farmers by profession, they applied for
loan waivers after social workers and collectorate officials told them about their eligibility.
The applications were made online. In all, 88 prisoners applied, but 32 applications were rejected because of reasons like ID problems and incomplete documents. The 88 include both convicts and under-trials. A social worker said that pushed to the brink, some of the farmers took to crime and so the loan waiver scheme is an opportunity for them to start life afresh once they are free.
"While visiting Nagpur jail to ensure that the prisoners there had basic amenities, our officials noticed that there were some farmers among them with unpaid loans. So we started a campaign and organised a special camp at the jail to enrol them for
Aadhaar so that they could have IDs to take benefit of the loan waiver scheme," said Sachin Kurve, collector, Mumbai suburban, who not long ago was collector, Nagpur. " Farm activists have welcomed the jail initiative.
Representative image