Tamil Nadu Farmers Protest Meagre ₹2,044 Crore Crop Loan Waiver as Promises Remain Unfulfilled
मुख्य बातें
- •The Tamil Nadu government announced a ₹2,044 crore crop loan waiver, which farmers in Virudhunagar district call insulting and inadequate.
- •Farmers had expected a 100% waiver for holdings up to 5 acres and 50% for larger holdings, as promised by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay before elections.
- •Only ₹5,000 is being waived for farmers with loans over ₹1 lakh, and the cut-off date of February 28, 2026 excludes those who borrowed in March or April.
- •Farmers cite rising input costs, animal attacks, and climate change as reasons for their distress, demanding the waiver be increased to match earlier government actions like the ₹12,112 crore waiver in 2021.
Farmers’ bodies in Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar district have strongly criticised the state government’s recently announced crop loan waiver scheme, terming it both disappointing and insulting. The Southern Districts Farmers’ Association, led by its Virudhunagar district president R. Rampandian, has demanded a complete revision of the scheme to align it with the government’s pre-election commitments.
In a statement issued on May 28, 2026, Rampandian pointed out that the current waiver of ₹2,044 crore falls far short of the farmers’ expectations. He contrasted this with the previous AIADMK government’s waiver in 2021, which amounted to ₹12,112 crore. “The farming community has been burdened by skyrocketing input costs over the past five years,” Rampandian said. He highlighted that expenses on fertilisers, pesticides, farm operations and weeding have surged, compounded by losses due to crop damage from wild animals such as wild boars and unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change.
