PMK leader Ramadoss seeks full farm loan waiver in TN

Chennai, June 3 (PTI) PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday urged the Tamil Nadu government to implement a complete waiver of farmers’ loans, criticising the state’s current relief measures as inadequate compared to other states.

In a statement, the PMK leader claimed that the Maharashtra government has waived crop loans worth Rs 36,585 crore, benefitting 5.5 million farmers. “Compared to the Rs 2,044 crore waiver announced a few days ago by the Tamil Nadu government, the difference between the loan relief measures of the two states looks like the gap between a mountain and a molehill.” Anbumani pointed out disparities between the two state programmes.

Tamil Nadu’s scheme caps the maximum waiver at Rs 50,000 for farmers holding up to 2.5 acres.

Marginal farmers with up to 5 acres receive between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000, while larger farmers are given Rs 5,000.

“By contrast, Maharashtra has provided an unconditional waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh against crop loans for all farmers—small, marginal and large alike”, he added.

Noting that Tamil Nadu’s waiver covers only part of the loans taken during the 10-month period, from May 1 last year to February this year, the former union minister said Maharashtra’s waiver, however, covers a six-year span, from April 2019 to March 2025, with up to Rs 2 lakh being waived. That means even farmers trapped in irrecoverable debt can be freed completely.

Anbumani took aim at the opposition DMK’s unfulfilled campaign pledges from the 2026 assembly elections. He reminded people that the DMK had promised to fully waive loans of farmers holding up to 5 acres alongside 50 per cent relief for those owning more than 5 acres.

“The current government under Chief Minister Vijay has imposed harsh conditions and limited the waiver to meagre amounts between Rs 5,000 and Rs 50,000,” he alleged.

“What Maharashtra’s loan waiver repeatedly tells us is simple, that there are no rules that prevent full farm loan write-offs—only the political will is required,” he said. PTI SNR SNR ROH