Loan waiver to elude some

Hyderabad: The Reserve Bank of India may not reschedule the crop loans of all farmers in AP as 86 of the total 661 mandals in Seemandhra are not on the drought and cyclone-affected list submitted to the apex bank.

Also, lack of clarity from the government regarding who will pay back the rescheduled loans has left the farmers worried.

Though Chief Minister  N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday reiterated that the RBI had agreed to reschedule the crop loans, he did not spell out the details on whether all agricultural loans would be waived. “We are expecting a formal letter from RBI in a couple of days after which we will announce how to go about the waiver,” he said.

However, it is not clear whether the state would give any guarantee to the banks to enable the farmers to get fresh loans.

It may be mentioned here that 575 mandals were declared as drought and cyclone hit by the AP government. As a result, the government has to bear the crop loans in the remaining 86 mandals and officials are working out the financial burden arising out of this situation.

Highly placed sources told Deccan Chronicle that the AP government would waive off the crop loans in a phased manner. “In the first phase or 2014-15 current financial year, the government will waive off crop loans in 80 mandals to 100 mandals. In the remaining mandals, it will get time to repay the loans as part of the reschedulement of loans that could be between five and seven years,” said a source.

However, the Opposition YSRC has accused the TD government of trying to escape from its poll promise.  

“There is no clarity in the term of rescheduling while Chandrababu Naidu had gone hammer and tongs during campaigning and now he has been looking for escape routes,” said YSRC  leader Jyothula Nehru.