In a first, Maharashtra clears landmark bill to recognise women farmers

The Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed the Women Farmers Empowerment Bill, aimed at recognising women farmers and creating a framework to ensure their access to government welfare schemes, institutional credit, agricultural services and Women Farmer identity cards. The bill will now be tabled in the legislative council.

Described as the first such proposed legislation in the country, the bill seeks to acknowledge women’s contribution to farming through a dedicated fund for women engaged in agriculture and special assistance for single women cultivators.

It also adopts a broad definition of a woman farmer, covering crop cultivation as well as allied activities such as animal husbandry, dairy and other farm-based work, and provides for an institutional mechanism to implement the law.

Introducing the bill, Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharane said women work alongside men from sowing to harvesting and also take part in dairy farming and livestock rearing, but have largely remained outside institutional benefits because agricultural land is usually registered in the names of male family members.

Recalling the contribution of MS Swaminathan, the father of green revolution, Bharane said the agricultural scientist had argued that farmers’ welfare must remain central to agricultural development and had stressed the need to recognise women’s role in the sector.

Bharane said the proposed law’s definition of a woman farmer extends beyond crop cultivation to allied agricultural activities such as animal husbandry. “This definition reflects the rural reality and does justice to the actual contribution of women in agriculture,” he said.

He added the Women Farmer identity card would help beneficiaries access financial assistance, seeds, fertilisers, e-Kisan inputs, agricultural credit and direct market linkages.

The minister said the government proposes to set up a Women Farmers Empowerment Council headed by the Chief Minister, along with a state-level committee and a Women Farmers Empowerment Cell for coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. He said the bill was meant to give women farmers a dignified identity and expressed confidence that Maharashtra would once again lead the country with a progressive policy for women in agriculture.

Backing the bill, Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar said it was not merely a legal measure but a tribute to the countless women who have devoted their lives to agriculture and sustained the state’s rural economy.

During the debate, Shiv Sena (UBT) member Aaditya Thackeray said women are often seen only as agricultural labourers despite sharing equal responsibility in cultivation, and that the bill would give them a legal identity as farmers and the rights that come with that recognition. While supporting the bill, he said recognition alone would not be enough and called for attention to issues affecting rural women, including malnutrition, deficiencies of iron, calcium and vitamin B12, and stunted growth among children.

He also urged the government to announce a comprehensive farm loan waiver before the next assembly session, while saying efforts should be made to strengthen agriculture so that farmers would not need loan waivers in future.

Mahayuti ministers Pankaja Munde and Aditi Tatkare, BJP MLA Shweta Mahale and Congress legislator Jyoti Gaikwad were among those who spoke in the debate. NCP (SP) member Jayant Patil demanded that women be made co-owners of family farmland. Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said at least half an acre of land is needed to become a farmer and asked whether the government would make a provision linking women to ownership.

Replying to the debate, Bharane said the proposed law seeks to give an independent identity to women engaged in agriculture and allied activities, whether or not their names appear in land ownership records. He said the bill covers not only crop cultivation but also animal husbandry, poultry farming, fisheries, beekeeping and other farm-based activities, and women working in these sectors would be eligible for recognition and certificates.

“The objective is not limited to those whose names appear on the 7/12 land extract. We want to recognise every woman contributing to agriculture and allied sectors and provide her with an independent identity as a farmer,” Bharane said.

He said the legislation aims to ensure women receive equal opportunities in agriculture, economic empowerment and a proper role in decision-making. “The bill will give formal recognition to women’s contribution to the agricultural sector,” he said.

Responding to concerns raised by members, Bharane said a committee had been constituted to address difficulties that may arise during implementation, and that women farmers would gradually be brought under various government schemes. “We aim to ensure that women farmers become self-reliant and stand on their own feet,” he said.

The bill, passed unanimously by the Assembly, seeks to recognise women across farming and allied sectors and create a system to link that recognition with benefits, support and implementation.

- Ends