Maharashtra Govt Withdraws Farm Loan Waiver Conditions After Statewide Protests by AIKS

Mumbai: The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has stated that sustained statewide protests by farmers have forced the BJP-led Maharashtra government to withdraw two major conditions attached to its recently announced farm loan waiver scheme.

The organisation held protests across several districts and tehsils in Maharashtra on July 10, following an earlier phase of demonstrations on June 10 and 11, demanding a complete and unconditional farm loan waiver. The protests were led by AIKS National President Dr Ashok Dhawale, State General Secretary Dr Ajit Nawale, State President Umesh Deshmukh and other leaders.

On the final day of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly session on July 10, CPI(M) MLA Vinod Nikole, who represents Dahanu constituency in Palghar district, staged a protest within the Vidhan Bhawan premises. He displayed a banner calling for the removal of all conditions attached to the farm loan waiver scheme and demanding a complete waiver for farmers.

Nikole later addressed members of the media outside the legislature, reiterating the demand for an unconditional farm loan waiver. The AIKS said the protest helped bring the issue to the forefront of political discussions across the state.

Following months of sustained agitations by united farmers' groups, with the AIKS playing a leading role, the Maharashtra government was compelled to remove two major conditions that had been included in the farm loan waiver scheme announced on June 2.

The AIKS described the move as a significant victory for the ongoing farmers' movement in Maharashtra.

This is the third farm loan waiver by the Maharashtra government, the earlier two being in 2017 (Fadnavis regime) and 2019 (Thackeray regime), both of them also being a direct result of united peasant struggles in which the AIKS was in the lead. The above two schemes gave a total loan waiver of Rs 44,508 crore to 90.83 lakh farmers.

The AIKS noted that the state government has announced that the latest loan waiver scheme would provide relief worth ₹36,000 crore to 56.40 lakh farmers. However, the organisation alleged that the figures announced by the government were exaggerated.

Despite its reservations, the AIKS said the latest waiver and the withdrawal of two key conditions would provide significant relief to farmers, particularly in Maharashtra, which has consistently recorded one of the highest numbers of debt-related farmer suicides in the country.

The organisation also criticised the BJP-led Union government, alleging that it has not implemented a nationwide farm loan waiver during the last 12 years. It further stated that scheduled commercial banks wrote off non-performing assets amounting to around ₹16.35 lakh crore between the financial years 2014-15 and 2024-25, largely comprising corporate defaults, while no similar relief had been extended to farmers.