Source: The Hindu
Context: The Union government is considering a separate legislation to protect the rights of women farmers, on the lines of the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026, said S. Mahendra Dev, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, in Chennai. He was speaking at the inauguration of a conference on “Building Gender-just Food, Land and Water Systems” at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF).
The Core Problem
- For decades, the word “farmer” in government records meant the person who owns the land. Since agricultural land is predominantly registered in the names of male family members, women who sow, transplant, weed, harvest, rear livestock and handle post-harvest processing remained legally invisible — and therefore ineligible for institutional credit, subsidies, crop insurance, extension services and most farmer-centric schemes.
- In Maharashtra, women hold only about 15.5% of operational farmland, though they perform a large share of agricultural labour.
The Maharashtra Model
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Status | First Indian State law dedicated to women farmers; passed unanimously by the Legislative Assembly and later the Legislative Council |
| Introduced by | Agriculture Minister Dattatraya Bharane |
| Core instrument | Woman Farmer Certificate — formal recognition as a farmer irrespective of land ownership |
| Benefits unlocked | Government welfare schemes, agricultural subsidies, institutional credit, crop insurance, extension services and financial assistance |
| Institutions created | Women Farmers Database; Maharashtra State Fund for Women Farmers; Women Farmers Empowerment Cell; Women Farmers Empowerment Council; State Monitoring Committee |
| Local role | Gram Panchayats and local institutions identify eligible women farmers and facilitate certification |
| Definition of agriculture | Broad — crop cultivation, seed production, animal husbandry, poultry, dairy, livestock rearing, apiculture, fisheries, aquaculture, sericulture, vermiculture, horticulture, floriculture, mushroom cultivation and agro-forestry |
The Fund receives grants from the Central and State Governments, donations and other sources, and involves recurring expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of the State.
Exam Relevance
NABARD Grade A — Very high relevance for Phase II Paper II. Women in agriculture, land rights, Kisan Credit Card access and Self-Help Group linkage are core themes, and NABARD directly finances women’s SHGs and Joint Liability Groups — the standard workaround for cultivators without land title. Retain the 15.5% operational holding figure, the certificate mechanism, and the institutions created under the Maharashtra Act.
