Over 2 hours’ meeting, demand for specific date and a warning: How farmers got a loan waiver promise from Maharashtra Govt

On Thursday night, the delegation held a meeting with CM Fadnavis, Pawar, and Shinde.

“We had promised a farm loan waiver in our election manifesto. We are committed to the same. We have formed a high-level committee headed by MITRA CEO Praveen Pardeshi, which will give us the report by April 1 (within six months). Based on that, a decision will be taken on this by June 30, 2026,” said Fadnavis after the meeting with a delegation of farmer leaders led by former MLA Bachchu Kadu.

“For almost one and a half hours, three of them presented us with numbers regarding the financial situation of the state and how it was difficult to declare the farm loan waiver. The intention was to tell us about the formation of a committee headed by Praveen Pardeshi and issue a government resolution promising action. But our stand was very clear. We wanted a specific date from the government,” said Dr Ajit Navale, Joint Secretary, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), who was part of the protest and the meeting.

Navale said that learning from past mistakes, such as accepting March 31 as the date of eligibility for farm loan waiver, would mean excluding the number of farmers with outstanding debt.

“The farm loan repayment becomes due on March 31, but it goes into the outstanding debt category from June 30. So, by extending the deadline to June 30, we have ensured that each and every farmer will get covered,” he said.

‘Intention was to postpone until 2028’

The meeting also witnessed heated exchanges between the government representatives and farmer leaders, with one of the deputy CMs even questioning whether the delegation had no trust in the government.

“The chief minister kept on assuring us about the farm loan waiver while deputy CM Ajit Pawar was explaining the financial struggle due to the burden of Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme and other welfare schemes. The intention was to postpone the farm loan waiver till the year 2028,” said former LS MP and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana leader Raju Shetti.

Shetti said the delegation remained firm on the demand for a specific date.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, CM Fadnavis too accepted that the state government “already has a financial burden”. “The government is in financial problems. But we will find a way out of it,” he said, adding that despite financial constraints, they announced one of the biggest relief packages for farmers suffering from the floods.

Addressing his workers Friday afternoon, as he called off the protest, Kadu said that the farmers’ agitation had brought this government to its knees.

“This government was conveniently making promises, but was never going to tell us the date. But we all fought for more than two and a half hours. We made it clear that we will not leave until we get the date for the farm loan waiver. They (Fadnavis, Pawar and Shinde) had a separate meeting, and finally agreed to give us the date of June 30, 2026,” said Kadu.

He warned that the farmers will wait for the government to complete its promise. “This does not mean that we will not rise again if betrayed. If we don’t get what was promised to us, we will be launching the agitation once again,” he said.