Latest news with #AmbadasPawar
News18
05-07-2025
- Politics
- News18
Viral Video Of Debt-Hit Farmer Pulling Plough Moves Minister To Clear His Rs 42,500 Loan
Last Updated: 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. In a commending move, Maharashtra minister Babasaheb Patil on Saturday cleared a farmer's loan of Rs 42,500 after a video of the debt-hit farmer pulling a plough all by himself to till his field in Latur district went viral on social media platforms. In the now viral video, the farmer, identified as 75-year-old Ambadas Pawar, a resident of Hadolti village in Ahmedpur tehsil, was seen pulling a plough all by himself on a dry patch of land with his wife by his side in the absence of oxen due to financial constraints. The video had evoked tremendous empathy from netizens for their plight. 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. After coming across the heartbreaking visual, the state's cooperation minister, Babasaheb Patil, reached out to the poor farmer and promised to repay his pending crop loan, according to the government press release. 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. 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 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. (With inputs from PTI) First Published: July 05, 2025, 23:39 IST
NDTV
05-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Minister Clears Latur Farmer's Loan After Video Showed Him Pulling Plough
Latur: 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. Ambadas 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.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Agri dept, min & actor come forward to help Latur farmer
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Ambadas Pawar , the 65-year-old farmer from Latur whose act of pulling a plough went viral, has started to receive significant assistance. Following the widespread attention, the agriculture department and local NCP MLA and cooperation minister Babasaheb Patil have stepped in to help. Despite his long career in farming, Pawar notably lacked a Kisan credit card. However, agricultural authorities have now fast-tracked his enrollment for one. "Pawar is likely to get the Kisan credit card in a day or two and could avail affordable credit from the government among other benefits. We also offered him fertilisers and humic acid for the Kharif season," Shivsamb Lakde, Latur district superintendent of agriculture, told TOI on Thursday. Patil has pledged to clear Pawar's outstanding loan of Rs40,000 and provide additional assistance. "I contacted the family and have assured them of all possible help in my capacity and through the govt," Pawar said. Actor Sonu Sood, in a post on X, said he is ready to provide oxen to Pawar. The actor, who runs the Sood Charity Foundation, said Pawar would be unable to drive a tractor and therefore providing oxen is a better proposition. Speaking with the reporters, Pawar said nobody approached him for actual help except the agriculture department. "I haven't received any money to clear my debt. I got a call from Sood and he promised to come to my village by Saturday," he said. Pawar expressed concern about the upbringing of his two grandchildren and mentioned that he needs help with their education as well.
India Gazette
03-07-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Maharashtra: 76-year-old farmer ploughs farm manually for 10 years due to financial hardship
Latur (Maharashtra) [India], July 3, 2025 (ANI): Facing unbelievable financial hardship and unable to afford oxen for his fields, a 76-year-old farmer in Maharashtra's Hadolti village in the Latur district has been ploughing his fields manually for the last 10 years without any help from the state government. Ambadas Pawar has been a farmer for over 50 years and ploughing manually for the last 10 along with his wife, as he was forced to sell his oxen due to not being able to afford the animal's maintenance. He claimed that until now no one has come to help him and requested that his loan be waived off. Latur is also a drought prone area of the state. 'I have been farming for the last 50 years, but since it has not been possible for me to bear the expenses of oxen, I sold the oxen 10 years ago and have been the field with my own hands on my shoulders and working with my wife. No one has interfered for the last 10 years, but someone saw me ploughing the field and made a video and made it viral. After the video went viral, today the Latur district officer and the state minister contacted me,' the farmer said. Earlier, Latur district agriculture Superintendent Officer Shivsamb Ladke met with Pawar, assuring him of all the help possible, and also offering to give him farming literature provided under government schemes. The farmer's hardship was highlighted when a video of him manually ploughing his fields was shown in a news report, Later, the Mumbai Congress posted about the farmer in a post on X. 'When he couldn't find oxen to plow the field, he turned himself into an ox... A heart-wrenching scene has emerged from Hadolti village in Latur district,' the party's post read. The farmer has demanded that the government help waive off his outstanding loans of Rs 40,000, saying that while he does have a son who works in the city, he does not get any help for him. 'I have not received any help from the government so far. I demand from the government that my loan of 40 thousand rupees of the society should be waived off. I have a son and a daughter. The son works in a private company in Pune city, from which he earns his livelihood but we do not get any benefit from it,' he added. The farmers wife, Muktabai Ambadas Pawar decried the meagre sums of money which they get from farming, claiming that the government does not do enough to help sustain the livelihoods of smaller farmers. 'We are 6 people in the whole house. The son works in a private company in another city. He does not get anything from us. We have 4.5 acres of land. We do not have bulls, husband and I plough the field by hand. If the government had given us a fair price for our crop, we would not have to plough by hand. If you see, the price of soybean fertilizer is 3 thousand per sack and if we have to sell it in the market, we get 4 thousand rupees. Then how to meet our expenses is the question before us,' she told ANI. She also reiterated the demand to waive off her husband's loan, along with other farmers. Earlier on Wednesday, Congress MLA Nana Patole criticised the government for the increasing suicides of farmers in the state, accusing the government of not being able to control inflation. Patole said, 'The government has accepted that the farmers are committing suicide in cost of everything has increased, whether it's diesel, petrol, seeds, fertilisers or insecticides. The income of farmers is low, and that's why they are committing suicide.' (ANI)
Time of India
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Elderly farmer pulls plough in Latur with wife's help, can't afford to rent oxen
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Unable to afford the Rs 2,500 daily rent for a pair of oxen, an elderly man has been pulling the plough himself to prepare his farm for kharif crops in Latur's Ahmedpur taluka. Ambadas Pawar, a 75-year-old of Hadoalti village in the drought-prone Marathwada region, started sowing for the cotton crop recently. "The daily rent for a pair of oxen, for kharif farm work, is Rs 2,500 at present. I had to take a loan of Rs 20,000 for kharif sowing in addition to an earlier loan of Rs 40,000 for agricultural needs. Now, I have no money left for the rented oxen. I have no choice but to pull the plough," he said. Pawar added that multiple extreme weather events in his area severely affected his agricultural produce and caused heavy losses. "We also did not get the expected market prices for our agricultural yield. Even if I am out of money, I cannot give up on cotton cultivation this kharif season," he added. Muktabai said she feels pained to see her husband working hard at his age. "We solely depend on agriculture to make ends meet. We are getting burdened due to the loans. There is no one to pay heed to our woes," she said. A video of the septuagenarian farmer pulling the traditional wooden plough, with his wife, Muktabai, guiding him from behind, left many heartbroken. The couple's son, who is in his 40s, completed his ITI course and is currently employed with a private firm in Pune in a low-paid job. His wife and two young children stay in the village with Ambadas and Muktabai. Latur district is experiencing a 40% rainfall deficiency this monsoon. The rainfall gap has resulted in weed growth in farms, forcing farmers to put in extra efforts to remove weeds from their farms. After Ambadas's video got circulated widely, state agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate spoke to the elderly farmer and assured him of govt help. Kokate told reporters, "I have instructed the local agriculture department officer to contact Ambadas Pawar and offer all possible assistance to the couple."
