AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami criticized the ruling Tamil Nadu government for its crop loan waiver scheme, calling it a “scientific fraud.” He accused the government of misleading farmers and deviating from its election promises. Palaniswami alleged that the government was diverting attention from deteriorating law and order conditions in the state.
Drawing a comparison with his tenure as Chief Minister in 2021, Palaniswami highlighted the AIADMK government’s previous crop loan waiver scheme. He stated that the government had waived crop loans worth ₹12,110 crore, benefiting around 16.43 lakh farmers. Palaniswami emphasized that the earlier initiative aimed to provide genuine relief to farmers facing financial distress.
Palaniswami criticized the current government for not fulfilling its election promise of a complete crop loan waiver for small landholding farmers. He pointed out a shift in eligibility criteria from land ownership to loan amount-based criteria, which he claimed was misleading. Highlighting the disparity, he noted that the present government’s announced waiver amount was significantly lower than the previous government’s initiative.
