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.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
