Chennai, May 26:
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has strongly criticised the TVK-led Tamil Nadu government over its farm loan waiver announcement, calling the scheme a “scientific fraud” and accusing it of misleading farmers.
In a statement, Palaniswami alleged that the ruling dispensation was attempting to divert public attention from deteriorating law and order conditions while engaging in political manoeuvring instead of focusing on governance. He contrasted the current move with the AIADMK government’s 2021 waiver of crop loans worth ₹12,110 crore, which benefited around 16.43 lakh farmers, describing it as a sincere effort grounded in farmers’ real needs.
Targeting the present scheme, he said the government had failed to honour its election promise of waiving crop loans for farmers owning less than five acres of land through cooperative banks. Instead, the eligibility has been shifted to the loan amount, a deviation he termed deceptive and contrary to the original commitment.
Highlighting the disparity, Palaniswami pointed out that while the previous AIADMK regime implemented a large-scale waiver, the current announcement covers only ₹2,044 crore in 2026. “As a farmer who has personally tilled the land, I can say that no government which deceives farmers has survived in history,” he said, urging the government not to betray the farming community and reiterating that farmers are the backbone of society.