MUMBAI: The state government's loan waiver scheme has perhaps found the unlikeliest of beneficiaries, though on second thoughts it all seems to add up. 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, with the help of social workers. In all, 88 prisoners applied, but 32 applications were rejected because of reasons like ID problems and incomplete documents. Of course, the rejected prisoners can apply again. The 88 include both convicts and under-trials, who are behind bars for various crimes, including cheating, rioting and theft.
"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.
Representative image