India News | Minister Clears Loan of Latur Farmer After Video Showed Him Pulling Plough
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Moved by the video of a debt-hit farmer pulling a plough all by himself to till his field in Maharashtra's Latur district, state minister Babasaheb Patil on Saturday cleared his outstanding loan of Rs 42,500, an official release said.
Latur, Jul 5 (PTI) Moved by the video of a debt-hit farmer pulling a plough all by himself to till his field in Maharashtra's Latur district, state minister Babasaheb Patil on Saturday cleared his outstanding loan of Rs 42,500, an official release said.
The video had evoked tremendous empathy from netizens for the plight of 75-year-old Ambadas Pawar, a resident of Hadolti village in Ahmedpur tehsil.
After coming across the widely shared visual, Patil, who heads the cooperation ministry, had reached out to Pawar and promised to repay his pending crop loan, the release said.
Pawar had an outstanding loan of Rs 42,500 from the Hadolti Multi-purpose Cooperative Society. Patil visited the village on Saturday to hand over the amount to the society's office-bearers and instructed them to issue a clearance certificate to Pawar.
The minister said the government is determined to address farmers' problems and is implementing various welfare schemes to improve their conditions.
Pawar's viral video showed him dragging a plough on a dry patch of land with his wife by his side. With no means to hire oxen or tractors that cost nearly Rs 2,500 per day, Pawar had said that he and his wife had turned into human ploughs.
On Friday, the Latur district unit of Krantikari Shetkari Sanghatana presented Pawar, who owns 2.5 acres of land, with a pair of bullocks. The bovine animals were brought to his house in Hadolti here in a procession amid music and dance.
A charitable trust from Telangana also visited Pawar and handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as direct financial aid.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)