Kavach Yojana (Farmer Debt Relief)

What is Kavach Yojana?

Kavach Yojana is a Madhya Pradesh Cooperation Department scheme approved by the state cabinet on 4 August 2026. Its purpose is narrow and specific: Kavach Yojana is meant to repair the loan records of farmers whose accounts in cooperative credit societies were damaged by administrative or financial irregularities inside those institutions, not by anything the farmer did.

The problem the scheme addresses is a real and long-standing one in Madhya Pradesh's cooperative credit chain. Where a primary agricultural credit society has been found to have irregularities: mis-posted entries, ghost loans, or misappropriation by society staff. The affected accounts are frozen while an investigation runs. Those investigations can take years. In the meantime the farmer whose name sits on the disputed account is treated as a defaulter: he cannot take a fresh crop loan, cannot get a new Kisan Credit Card limit, and is often shut out of government schemes that require a clean credit record.

Kavach Yojana was announced by Cooperative Minister Rakesh Singh, who described the aim as restoring affected farmers' eligibility for institutional benefits and strengthening confidence in the cooperative credit system. Reporting at the time of cabinet approval put the number of farmers covered at about 5,000.

How it is funded

• Apex Bank and the district cooperative banks jointly create a relief fund of Rs 50 crore.
• The Madhya Pradesh government provides a one-time Rs 25 crore as share capital support to the cooperative banks.

The fund absorbs the loss on the disputed accounts so that the account can be closed out in the books and the farmer's record cleared, rather than leaving the farmer to wait for the investigation to conclude.

Who is covered by Kavach Yojana?

You may be covered if:

• You are a farmer in Madhya Pradesh and a member of a primary agricultural credit society.
• Your cooperative loan account carries discrepancies traced to irregularities in the society or the cooperative institution.
• Your case is stuck in an investigation that has not concluded.
• As a result, you have been denied fresh institutional credit or excluded from government schemes that require a clean loan record.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• Your loan is simply overdue through your own non-payment, with no institutional irregularity involved. Kavach Yojana is not a general default relief.
• Your loan is from a commercial or regional rural bank rather than the cooperative credit structure.
• You are not a member of a primary agricultural credit society.
• You are outside the defined set of affected accounts that the Cooperation Department identifies from its own investigation records, the scheme is scoped to roughly 5,000 accounts, not to all cooperative borrowers.

Because the affected accounts come from departmental investigation files rather than from farmer applications, inclusion is likely to be identified by the department rather than claimed by the farmer. Confirm this with your society once guidelines are issued.

What does a farmer actually get?

Kavach Yojana is not a cash transfer and not a loan waiver. What the farmer gets is the removal of the block:

• The disputed loan account is settled out of the relief fund.
• The farmer's record with the cooperative bank is restored to good standing.
• The farmer becomes eligible again for fresh cooperative crop loans and a Kisan Credit Card limit.
• Government scheme benefits that had been withheld because of the disputed record become accessible again.

No per-farmer relief amount has been notified. The Rs 50 crore fund across about 5,000 accounts indicates the order of magnitude involved, but the department has not published an individual entitlement and none should be assumed.

How to apply for Kavach Yojana

No application form or window has been notified. The scheme was cleared on 4 August 2026 and the Cooperation Department is expected to issue operating guidelines setting out identification of accounts, the settlement mechanism and the role of the district cooperative banks. Until then, the practical steps for an affected farmer are these.

1. Get your loan account statement from your primary agricultural credit society, and ask in writing for the reason your account is marked as disputed or frozen.
2. Confirm the case status with the District Cooperative Central Bank branch — whether your account is part of an investigation file and, if so, the case reference.
3. File a written representation with the Deputy Registrar or Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies for your district, attaching the statement, your land record, Aadhaar and society membership record, and ask specifically whether your account falls within Kavach Yojana.
4. Follow the department's guidelines when they are notified, at cooperatives.mp.gov.in, and submit whatever verification the society asks for.
5. Escalate on CM Helpline 181 if the society or the bank does not respond, quoting your account number and the date of your written representation.

What to watch for

Three things are not yet public and should not be assumed:

• The identification criteria: exactly which categories of irregularity qualify an account.
• Whether farmers can apply or must be identified by the department from investigation records.
• Any per-account ceiling on the relief.

This guide records what was published at the time of cabinet approval. Check cooperatives.mp.gov.in and your District Cooperative Central Bank for the operating guidelines before acting on any figure.

Where to get help

• Primary agricultural credit society where your loan account is held.
• District Cooperative Central Bank branch for account and settlement status.
• Deputy Registrar / Joint Registrar, Cooperative Societies at the district headquarters. The departmental authority over society irregularities.
• Cooperation Department, Madhya Pradesh, cooperatives.mp.gov.in.
• CM Helpline 181 for a tracked state grievance.

No fee is payable to any person for inclusion under Kavach Yojana. Settlement is made inside the cooperative banking system, and any demand for money to "get your account cleared" should be reported immediately to the Deputy Registrar and on the CM Helpline.