In a significant move, the Tamil Nadu government, led by Chief Minister Vijay, has positively responded to statewide protests by farmers regarding the initial crop loan waiver guidelines. During a high-level review meeting held at the Secretariat, the Chief Minister announced key amendments to the scheme, significantly expanding its scope. The revised policy now guarantees a 100% loan waiver for all marginal, small, and large farmers who have taken crop loans up to ₹75,000 through cooperative banks. Furthermore, the government has extended financial support to farmers with higher loan amounts by granting a uniform relief of ₹35,000 per farmer.
This benevolent decision is set to deliver massive financial relief to approximately 14.43 lakh farmer families across the state. The overhaul of the policy became necessary after farmers expressed deep dissatisfaction and staged protests against last month’s preliminary announcement, which offered restricted and staggered relief benefits. Acknowledging their grievances, CM Vijay held an emergency meeting with senior officials to sideline the old criteria and establish these new, more generous guidelines to ensure comprehensive welfare for the agricultural community.
The implementation of these revised guidelines will incur an additional financial burden of ₹5,932 crore on the state exchequer. The government stated that this bold step was taken after closely assessing the state’s current economic condition while prioritizing the well-being of the farmers. To ensure complete compliance with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulations, the government has officially committed to reimbursing the full waiver amounts to the respective cooperative banks within the next 45 to 60 days. Tamil Nadu’s farmer associations have widely welcomed and expressed immense joy over this latest announcement.
