Mumbai, June 3 (IANS) To ensure that financial relief specifically aids economically strained agricultural households, the Maharashtra government has mandated strict criteria in the implementation of the Rs 36,585 crore Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar farm loan waiver scheme which will benefit 55.72 lakh farmers in the state. Notably, this decision is expected to completely clear the land records (Satbara) of nearly 16.74 lakh farmers.

According to the Cabinet decision, current or former Ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and leaders of local government bodies are excluded from the scheme.

All working and retired officers/employees of Central and State Government departments with a gross monthly salary/pension exceeding Rs 25,000 (excluding former military personnel) will not be eligible to get the benefits under the scheme.

Employees of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), cooperative banks, and sugar factories drawing monthly payouts above Rs 25,000 won’t be part of the scheme.

Further, any individuals generating non-agricultural income who file regular Income Tax returns will not be entitled to be the beneficiary of the scheme.

However, the Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar farm loan waiver scheme will be applicable to farmers who availed loans between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2025. Overdue criteria will be loans that remained overdue as of September 30, 2025 and left unpaid up to March 31, 2026.

Medium-term restructured crop loans originating from short-term loans during the same 2019–2024 tenure, which accumulated defaults by September 30, 2025, are also integrated under the Rs 2 lakh write-off umbrella.

For farmers whose total outstanding principal and interest exceed the upper limit of Rs 2 lakh, a One Time Settlement (OTS) protocol has been formalized. Under this clause, the individual must clear the excess balance over Rs 2 lakh to the lending bank, after which the state government will remit its Rs 2 lakh contribution.

Farmers who successfully repaid their short-term crop loans taken in any two out of three financial years — FY 2022–23, FY 2023–24, and FY 2024–25 — before the designated deadline of June 30 of the respective year, will receive an incentive bonus of up to Rs 50,000.

For regular compliance cases where the total loan component is less than Rs 50,000, the benefit matched will equal the actual principal and interest repaid, subject to a minimum baseline of Rs 5,000.

Farmers who repay their loans regularly will receive an incentive grant of Rs 50,000. Those with farm loans above Rs 2 lakh will have to pay the additional amount after which the government will waive off the remaining amount. There will be no limit of land holding. The farmers who were benefited under the previous Mahatma Jyotirao Phule farm loan waiver scheme having arrears up to Rs 50,000 will be benefited.

Moreover, the disbursement process will require mandatory Aadhaar biometric verification alongside compulsory digital registration on the state’s “Agri stack” platform. The scheme applies universally across all institutional lending setups, including Nationalized Banks, Private Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks, and District Central Cooperative Banks.

A high-level committee led by the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) has been commissioned to negotiate direct reductions and settled frameworks with banking consortiums for Non-Performing Asset crop loan balances.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)

–IANS

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