Discuss the significance of decoupling 'farmer' recognition from land ownership, with reference to the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026.

In India, "farmer" status is administratively tied to the land record, yet female operational holdings were only about 13.78% in 2015-16 [1] even as agriculture employs the largest share of female workers [2]. The Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026 breaks this link by making Gram Sabha recognition, not a title deed, the basis of a Woman Farmer Certificate [3] — a significant corrective to the "invisible farmer" problem.

Ending statistical and social invisibility

• Women contribute substantial farm labour but, lacking titles, are counted as "helpers" rather than cultivators; PIB notes the ongoing feminisation of agriculture as men migrate out [4].
• Gram Sabha resolution followed by certificate issue within 15 days gives community-validated, low-cost recognition without disturbing succession law [3].

Unlocking entitlements and credit

• Land-linked eligibility excludes women from Kisan Credit Cards, crop insurance and input subsidies; certification converts them into direct beneficiaries.
• It operationalises the existing central mandate that States earmark at least 30% of expenditure on women farmers under NFSM, MIDH and other missions [2], which otherwise lacks an identifiable beneficiary base.

Institutional depth

• A dedicated Women Farmers Empowerment Fund, drawing Central and State grants and donations, plus a Women Farmers Empowerment Council, embed the reform in permanent machinery rather than a one-off scheme [3].

Limits to note

• Certification confers status, not ownership; asset security still depends on the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 coparcenary rights [5] and their uneven realisation.
• Agriculture being a State subject, divergent State registries could fragment recognition — hence the EAC-PM's interest in a harmonising central framework.

Decoupling recognition from ownership is thus a low-cost, high-leverage reform: it redefines the farmer by work performed rather than property held. A central model law, with a portable digital registry and convergence with PM-KISAN and credit institutions, would let other States replicate Maharashtra's step — advancing substantive equality under Articles 14 and 15(3) and SDG-5.