Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the issue of restructuring farmers' loans.
"Farmers battling drought need immediate relief. We will meet the PM - if he is in India - and also the FM to discuss restructuring of farmers' loans," Pawar said at Parbhani in Marathwada as he concluded his three-day visit to the drought-affected region. There should be no politics over farmers' problems, Pawar said, in a veiled reference to BJP leaders' criticism about his Marathwada tour.
More than 50,000 people from drought-hit areas in the Marathwada region migrated to Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune during the last month, Pawar said. "People and cattle have no water to drink but the government is not doing anything. Nothing will be achieved by giving a new name to the Union Agriculture Ministry," Pawar said, referring to PM Modi's Independence Day speech yesterday.
