In a significant update from Maharashtra’s legislative front, Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil informed the assembly that the committee studying farm loan waivers has not yet finalized its recommendations. Formed on October 30, 2025, to devise short- and long-term debt relief plans, the panel is deep into data crunching from banks.
Responding to opposition queries, Patil detailed the ongoing review of crop loans disbursed until June 2025, dues pending as of September 2025, and repayment histories spanning five years. With 52.80 lakh out of 54.63 lakh accounts’ data in hand, advanced computing is filtering genuine cases amid concerns over past malpractices.
Legacy schemes paint a picture of partial success. The 2017 waiver reached 44.04 lakh of 50.60 lakh targets, with 6.56 lakh farmers queued up for pending benefits. Meanwhile, 14.50 lakh have been rewarded under the Mahatma Phule retroactive grant program via Aadhaar linkage.
Flood-ravaged Kharif 2025 prompted swift action: loan restructurings in impacted talukas and a 12-month moratorium on recoveries for affected growers, as instructed to SLBC and local banks.
Patil refuted funding shortfall claims, citing approvals for IT infrastructure on December 3, 2025, Rs 500 crore in the winter session, and a hefty Rs 5,175.51 crore proposal for 2026-27. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis echoed this resolve Thursday, flagging banking frauds like fictitious account activations during prior waivers.
Fadnavis spotlighted the need for ironclad verification, announcing the ‘Krishi-Sangrah’ platform—a digital powerhouse merging land ownership, crop details, and biometric checks to prevent recurrence and streamline future aid distribution.
As farmers watch eagerly, this data-driven approach signals a cautious yet comprehensive push towards sustainable relief, learning from history to build a fraud-proof system.