Farm loan: Audit gives Telangana a glimmer of hope

Hyderabad: The TRS government is under pressure to clear the remaining two installments of farm loan waiver which comes around to over Rs 8,000 crore in a single go. However, some deft steps by the government may result in savings of nearly Rs 2,000 crore, which will also ease the financial burden to a major extent.

An audit of crop loan distribution in Medak district has revealed large-scale irregularities. When accounts in about 250 public sector banks were checked, it was found that loans were distributed in gross violation of rules. As a result, nearly Rs 35 crore was diverted illegally in one year (2014-15) alone.

Although, the government stated that only one person in a family would get a waiver of Rs 1 lakh, loans had been extended to both husband and wife in a few banks, resulting in a loss of Rs 60 lakh.

In some banks, long dormant accounts were reopened and about Rs 50 lakh siphoned off by the authorities themselves. While the crop loan should not go beyond two to three years, at the maximum, it was extended to farmers who took loans before January 2007. Despite the government fixing the cut-off date as March 31, 2014, amounts were distributed to farmers who took loans even after the due date.

These violations, to name a few, resulted in loss of Rs 35 crore to the exchequer in Medak district alone in one year. Considering that the government has released two installments thus far in the last two years; the leakage could be nearly Rs 70 crore.

The state government had released a total of Rs 8,350 crore in two installments in 2014 and 2015. This amounts to nearly 50 per cent of the total crop loan of Rs 17,000 crore, which will be released in four installments from 2014-17. The audit was done from November 17 to January 25 in 250 public sector banks.

However, the District Co-operative Central Bank, (DCCB) that consists of leaders and farmers with political connections was untouched for obvious reasons. The situation in this bank is expected to be no different from other banks and hence accounts should also be probed here, sources said.

With Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao exploring various options to pool funds for implementation of his schemes, this leakage is being seen as a body blow.

It is learnt that government will go through this report in the coming weeks and take a decision whether to undertake similar exercise in remaining districts. If so, the beneficiaries list, which is nearly 35 lakh at present could be pruned after the irregularities are identified.

All India Kisan Sangham vice-president S Malla Reddy called upon the government to ‘conduct a social audit’ and expose the irregularities.  

“The greedy few in banks, government departments, local leaders and fake farmers took to unfair means to divert funds. Even the DCCBs should not be spared from the enquiry,” Mr Malla Reddy said.