Dharapuram farmers are unhappy with the TN government’s crop loan waiver approach

One of TVK’s election promises was that small and marginal farmers would be given 100% crop loan waiver. | Photo credit: M. PERIASAMY

The state government’s approach to implementing the crop loan waiver scheme provided by primary agricultural cooperatives has left many farmers in Dharapuram in Tiruppur district disgruntled.

KM Ramasamy, a senior official of the farmers’ association, which he says does not owe allegiance to any political party, complains that the government’s few changes to the waiver system have only created more confusion among farmers and unnecessarily created false expectations among the farming community, although he appreciates that the government has its own limitations.

Unlike the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s election promise of 100% waiver to small and marginal farmers (up to 5 acres of land) who took loans from primary agricultural cooperatives and 50% waiver to others, the TVK regime initially announced a total waiver of ₹0 to 0% and ₹50 for small farmers. 50,000 Rs. It subsequently revised the exemption for loans up to ₹75,000 availed by farmers, irrespective of the size of their land. One more change was made by providing a maximum waiver of ₹75,000 for those who took loans in the range of ₹75,000-1,00,000 and a maximum waiver of ₹35,000 for those who took loans above ₹1 lakh.

Referring to the coverage of loans granted between May 2025 and February 2026, Mr. Ramasamy wonders at the exclusion of March 2026 as it is always during the month when a large number of crop loans are sanctioned. Besides, those who repaid their loans by June 19 did not get any relief. All Central and State Government pensioners have been excluded from the coverage and this norm should be changed by introducing an income limit.

N. Natarajan, another farmer of the constituency, points out that in the western districts, farmers are taking loans to buy dairy cows. The loan waiver scheme should also cover such farmers as animal husbandry and dairy sectors fall under the overall agriculture sector.

Senior government officials in charge of policy formulation did not respond to messages sent by The Hindu about the issues raised by the farmers.

Published – 03 Oct 2026 22:17 IST