Maharashtra's cabinet approved a draft bill recognising women as farmers in their own right, granting them a 'Women Farmer Certificate.' This landmark move aims to provide women engaged in agriculture and allied sectors formal identity, enabling access to government welfare schemes, subsidies, credit, and insurance previously restricted to male landowners. Maharashtra becomes one of the first states to legislate this recognition. The bill targets millions of women cultivators who contribute substantially to farm labour but lack legal farmer status.

In India, land ownership remains predominantly male, which systematically excludes women who actively work on farms from accessing institutional credit, crop insurance under PM Fasal Bima Yojana, input subsidies, and NABARD-linked schemes. The 'farmer' definition in most state laws and central schemes is tied to land ownership or tenancy records — documents women rarely hold. Maharashtra's draft bill breaks this structural barrier by introducing a standalone 'Women Farmer Certificate' as proof of farmer status, decoupled from land ownership.

This is significant for NABARD's mandate because NABARD finances rural credit infrastructure, promotes SHG-bank linkage, and runs programmes like WSHG (Women Self Help Group) linkage and Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) under DAY-NRLM. Without a formal farmer identity, women cannot independently avail KCC (Kisan Credit Card) loans, which require farmer status proof. Maharashtra's bill, once enacted, could serve as a model for other states and align with NABARD's financial inclusion goals.

NABARD's Annual Reports consistently highlight that women constitute nearly 60–80% of agricultural labour in India, yet fewer than 13% of landholdings are in women's names. Closing this recognition gap is essential for gender-inclusive rural finance. Examiners link this to SHG data, KCC penetration, and NABARD's refinancing role in state agriculture.