Maharashtra farm loan waiver a 'deceptive illusion', says Shiv Sena (UBT) in Saamana
Synopsis
Shiv Sena (UBT) is not just criticising a scheme — it is alleging a pattern. The party's Saamana editorial argues that the Maharashtra government's ₹36,585 crore farm loan waiver, celebrated for covering 55 lakh farmers, quietly leaves 34 lakh others behind through eligibility conditions that critics say are engineered to minimise the state's fiscal burden.
Key Takeaways
Shiv Sena (UBT) called Maharashtra's Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkar Karzmukti Yojana a 'deceptive illusion' in a 9 June Saamana editorial.
The state government claims to have waived loans for 55 lakh farmers , totalling approximately ₹36,585 crore .
The party estimates 34 lakh farmers remain excluded even after accounting for stated beneficiaries and income-tax-paying farmers.
Over 32 lakh farmers who availed the 2019 MVA Mahatma Jotiba Phule Loan Waiver are reportedly limited to a ₹50,000 'encouragement allowance' under the new scheme.
The scheme excludes loans for allied agricultural activities and livestock, and makes no special provision for widows or suicide-affected farming families.
Shiv Sena (UBT) drew a direct parallel with the Ladki Bahin scheme, alleging 80 lakh women were disqualified post-election via mandatory e-KYC requirements.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Tuesday, 9 June charged the ruling Maharashtra government with deceiving indebted farmers through the newly announced Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkar Karzmukti Yojana, alleging that its eligibility criteria are deliberately engineered to exclude the majority of the state's farming population. The opposition party levelled the charge in an editorial published in its mouthpiece, Saamana, drawing a direct parallel with what it described as an earlier betrayal of beneficiaries under the Ladki Bahin welfare scheme.
The Numbers Behind the Claim
Maharashtra has roughly 1.25 crore farmers, according to the editorial. The state government has claimed it waived crop loans of up to ₹2 lakh for 55 lakh farmers, amounting to a total relief package of approximately ₹36,585 crore. However, Shiv Sena (UBT) argues that even accepting these figures at face value, a large segment of the farming community is still left out.
After accounting for the 55 lakh stated beneficiaries and a further 6 lakh farmers classified as income-tax payers, the party estimates that 34 lakh farmers across the state remain burdened by debt with no relief in sight. The editorial asked why ruling politicians, who have loudly publicised the 55 lakh waivers, have offered no response on the plight of these remaining farmers.
Structural Loopholes Critics Say Exclude Millions
The Thackeray camp identified several eligibility conditions it says are designed to minimise the financial burden on the state treasury. The scheme restricts relief to crop loans and restructured loans taken between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2025. Farmers who borrowed for allied agricultural activities or livestock rearing are automatically disqualified under this criterion, the editorial stated.
Additionally, farmers who previously benefited from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government's Mahatma Jotiba Phule Loan Waiver scheme in 2019 are barred from receiving the full benefit under the new scheme. More than 32 lakh such farmers are reportedly being offered only ₹50,000 as an 'encouragement allowance' instead. Critics argue the amount should have been at least ₹1 lakh to qualify as a meaningful incentive. An additional two-year clause, the editorial claimed, pushes further lakhs into the ineligible category.
The party also noted that the scheme makes no special financial provision for the widows of farmers or the families of farmers who died by suicide — a group widely considered among the most vulnerable in Maharashtra's agrarian crisis.
The Ladki Bahin Parallel
Shiv Sena (UBT) drew a pointed comparison with the Ladki Bahin scheme, under which the ruling alliance had promised to raise monthly assistance from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100 ahead of the Assembly elections. Once in power, the party alleged, the promised hike was shelved and mandatory e-KYC verification requirements were introduced, effectively disqualifying approximately 80 lakh women from the scheme.
'The exact same playbook is now being applied to the farming community. By tangling the ₹2-lakh loan waiver in a web of bureaucratic red tape, the administration has successfully trapped lakhs of poor, debt-ridden farmers in the cycle of disqualification,' the Saamana editorial stated. Government officials, the Thackeray camp alleged, privately acknowledge that the stringent disqualification criteria serve to keep the scheme's fiscal outgo minimal — though no official statement confirming this has been made public.
What Comes Next
The ruling alliance in Maharashtra has not yet responded publicly to the specific allegations raised in the Saamana editorial. With over 50 per cent of the state's farmers reportedly set to be excluded, according to Shiv Sena (UBT)'s reading of the scheme's criteria, pressure is likely to mount on the government to clarify the eligibility framework. The fate of the 34 lakh farmers still awaiting debt relief is expected to remain a flashpoint in state politics in the weeks ahead.
Point of View
But the arithmetic it presents deserves scrutiny independent of its source. If Maharashtra has 1.25 crore farmers and only 55 lakh are covered, the government's own figures leave a majority unaddressed — and that gap exists before the eligibility exclusions are even applied. The scheme's restriction to loans taken between 2019 and 2025, and its explicit carve-out of livestock and allied-activity borrowers, are structural choices that disproportionately affect the most economically marginal farmers. The absence of any provision for suicide-affected families is a particularly glaring omission in a state that has recorded among the highest farm suicide rates in the country for over two decades. Whether the ruling alliance responds with a policy correction or a counter-narrative will signal whether this is a genuine welfare scheme or, as the opposition contends, a pre-election instrument that has outlived its political utility.
NationPress
12 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkar Karzmukti Yojana?
It is Maharashtra's newly announced farm loan waiver scheme that the state government claims has provided relief of up to ₹2 lakh to 55 lakh farmers, amounting to approximately ₹36,585 crore in total crop loan waivers. Shiv Sena (UBT) has alleged that more than 50 per cent of the state's roughly 1.25 crore farmers will be excluded due to complex eligibility criteria.
Why does Shiv Sena (UBT) say 34 lakh farmers are left out?
The party's calculation subtracts the 55 lakh stated beneficiaries and 6 lakh income-tax-paying farmers from Maharashtra's total of approximately 1.25 crore farmers, arriving at a residual of 34 lakh who remain in debt with no relief. It further argues that eligibility conditions — such as restricting relief to loans taken between April 2019 and March 2025 and excluding livestock or allied-activity loans — push additional farmers into the ineligible category.
What is the 'encouragement allowance' of ₹50,000 mentioned in the editorial?
Farmers who previously benefited from the MVA government's Mahatma Jotiba Phule Loan Waiver scheme in 2019 are reportedly barred from full benefits under the new scheme and are instead being offered ₹50,000 as an 'encouragement allowance'. Shiv Sena (UBT) and critics argue the amount is inadequate and should have been at least ₹1 lakh to serve as a meaningful incentive.
How does Shiv Sena (UBT) compare this to the Ladki Bahin scheme controversy?
The party alleges that the ruling alliance used a similar tactic with the Ladki Bahin scheme — promising to raise monthly assistance from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100 before the Assembly elections, then introducing mandatory e-KYC verification after winning power, which reportedly disqualified around 80 lakh women. It contends the same 'post-election playbook' of bureaucratic hurdles is now being used to limit the farm loan waiver's actual reach.
Does the scheme cover widows of farmers or families affected by farmer suicides?
According to the Shiv Sena (UBT) editorial in Saamana, the new scheme makes no special financial provisions or concessions for widows of farmers or for families of farmers who died by suicide. The party described this as a significant structural failure, particularly given Maharashtra's long record of high farm suicide rates.
