Rohit Pawar Launches Stir Over Farm Loan Waiver, Accuses Maharashtra Govt of Betrayal

Talking to reporters ahead of the agitation in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pawar alleged that the government was attempting to suppress the demonstration with heavy police deployment threatened to launch a "jail bharo" movement.

Earlier this month, the opposition party leader went on an indefinite hunger strike at Pandharpur in Solapur district seeking the removal of "stringent" conditions from the state government’s 'Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karja-mukti Yojana'. He subsequently called off the strike after he was assured of a meeting to discuss the issues.

The Karjat-Jamkhed MLA noted that the protest in Pandharpur was suspended after state minister Girish Mahajan assured farmers that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would convene a meeting before the legislature's monsoon session.

"When Minister Girish Mahajan came to Pandharpur, it was decided that a meeting would be held before the monsoon session to discuss our demands. We withdrew our agitation in good faith, but a week into the session, no meeting has taken place. The government has betrayed us,'' he said.

On June 2, the Maharashtra cabinet approved the Rs 36,585-crore farm loan waiver scheme, which is expected to benefit nearly 56 lakh cultivators.

Pawar has been pressing for a blanket loan waiver for farmers.

He claimed that around 1,000 police personnel, including riot control units, had been deployed at the protest venue and alleged a possibility that the government could try to suppress the agitation.

"If the government tries to suppress the agitation, we will launch a 'jail bharo' agitation. Nearly 1,000 police personnel, including crowd-control units, are deployed for the agitation. The agitation can be suppressed. The officers authorised to carry out a lathi-charge are also here. It depends on the government now, and we will see in a few hours,'' he said.

Pawar further claimed that the protest was not political and farmers would be consulted to decide the course of the agitation.

Leaders of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the NCP (SP) had repeatedly raised farmers' issues during the ongoing legislature session, he said, accusing state Agriculture Minister Datta Bharne of making "hollow promises" and shifting the responsibility of the farm loan waiver to the chief minister.

Pawar reiterated his demand that conditions attached to the loan scheme be removed and that eligible farmers be granted a blanket waiver.

He also sought the restoration of four triggers under the crop insurance scheme, alleging that their removal had drastically reduced the compensation to farmers.

"Farmers suffered losses of around Rs 17,000 crore last year, but only about Rs 1,200 crore was paid under the crop insurance scheme because four triggers were removed. These are small policy changes for the government, but they are crucial for farmers." The 'Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karja-mukti Yojana’ provides a farm loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh. It has three components — loan waiver, one-time settlement (OTS) and incentive benefits — and there will be no landholding criterion for eligibility.

Under the waiver component, farmers whose total outstanding short-term crop loans, including principal and interest, are up to Rs 2 lakh will be eligible for complete debt relief. The loans must have been disbursed between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2025; remained overdue as of September 30, 2025; and remained unpaid till March 31, 2026.

The farmers whose dues exceed Rs 2 lakh will be covered under the OTS component. Such borrowers will have to clear the amount above Rs 2 lakh, after which they will become eligible for a waiver of Rs 2 lakh. They have been given until March 31, 2027, to deposit their share of the outstanding amount.