Rohit Pawar Demands Blanket Loan Waiver Citing Farmer Using Wife To Pull Plough

Mumbai: To depict the plight of Maharashtra farmers, the NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Monday highlighted a tragic incident in Latur where a farmer was forced to use his wife to plough the fields after his bullock died. He strongly urged the administration to provide immediate assistance and demanded a blanket, unconditional farm loan waiver

Pawar shared a heart-wrenching video, which is from Bambali village in Devni Taluka, Latur district, on social media X post. “The farmer’s name is Kashinath Gaikwad; he lost one of his bulls to a lightning strike and lacking the financial means to purchase a replacement, he was forced to harness his wife to the plough,” he stated in his post.

Saying that the position of ‘Annadata’ (food provider) is harrowing, Pawar expressed deep anguish that a family which toils to feed the nation is forced to take the place of an animal, and he urged for assistance to be provided to the farmer. “The local officials, public representatives and ministers should take cognizance of this incident and ensure the family receives immediate aid.”

He furthermore demanded an unconditional, blanket loan waiver to farmers to alleviate their distress.

In the video shared by Pwar, the woman identifies herself as Hausabai Kashinath Gaikwad. She explains that she was compelled to pull the plough after their bull died from a lightning strike last Friday. Hausabai states in the video that farming is their primary occupation. She mentions that although officials inspected the site after the ox’s death, no assistance has been provided so far. She also voiced the physical pain and hardship she endures while pulling the plough.

Pawar also slammed the Central Government for reducing the number of subsidized LPG cylinders provided under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana annually from nine to four.

“The number of subsidized gas cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme was first reduced from 12 to nine, and has now been slashed from nine to just four. It wouldn’t be surprising if the government eventually scrapped the Ujjwala scheme altogether. A similar pattern is unfolding regarding the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme. After initially extending benefits across the board to garner votes during the election, 80 lakh women have now been excluded from the scheme based on various newly imposed criteria,” he said.

In the future, further criteria might be introduced to limit the scheme’s benefits to a mere handful of women, or the scheme itself could be shut down. This is a government that betrays public trust and resorts to deception for the sake of votes, Pawar added.