Telangana government may set conditions on farmer loan waivers

Hyderabad: In what could be a blow to lakhs of farmers who have pinned their hopes on the farm loan waiver scheme, the TRS government is all set to impose tight regulations for availing the benefit.

“Farm loan waiver of up to Rs 1 lakh to all farmers,” was one of the main poll promises made by TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao the recent polls.
However, the huge financial implications involved in the scheme are now forcing the TRS government to do a rethink on extending the scheme to “all farmers” and instead make it applicable to “eligible farmers who meet certain conditions”.

Mr Rao held a meeting with bankers in the Secretariat on Wednesday to discuss the scheme. The bankers brought to his notice that it would require nearly Rs 26,000 crore to waive loans up to Rs 1 lakh for all the farmers, and suggested that the scheme be implemented with some “conditions”.