Mumbai: The Maharashtra government, which faces a debt of Rs 11 lakh crore, has cleared a sum of Rs 9.9 crore towards publicity of its farm loan waiver scheme, the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karzmukti Yojana 2026.
The government resolution justifies the publicity expense by saying, “For effective implementation of the scheme and to ensure that beneficiaries receive information in a transparent manner, it is necessary to give wide publicity to the scheme.”
The loan waiver scheme, which was among the key promises on the Mahayuti’s manifesto before the 2024 assembly polls, was introduced on June 2 to benefit over 54.5 lakh farmers. It covers short-term crop loans taken between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2025 and has three components: a debt waiver, one-time settlement and incentive benefits for those who regularly service their loans. The scheme is expected to cost the exchequer Rs 36,585 crore.
Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Shetkari Karzmukti Yojana is among the many sops introduced by the state government which are straining the exchequer.
The Mahayuti government’s pre-poll Mukhya Mantri Majhi Laadki Bahin Yojana already costs the state over Rs 36,000 crore annually.
So far, the state government has announced a list of 16.9 lakh beneficiaries from the 30.6 lakh farmers for the loan waiver. Of these, 7 lakh farmers have overdue loans from district central cooperative banks and 9.6 lakh from nationalised banks. This amounts to loans worth Rs 13,336 crore. The total funds estimated for the loan waiver scheme are Rs 36,585 crore.
