Parties, farm associations flay farm loan waiver
Hyderabad: Political parties and farmers’ associations expressed dismay at the slew of preconditions and riders that the state government has imposed while announcing farm loan waiver. This they said is being done to reduce the expenditure on this count.
Former finance minister and Siddipet MLA T. Harish Rao said the announcement that loans taken before December 12, 2018, will not be considered was a meaningless rider. Even worse is the government saying that it will factor in data from PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme for inclusion in the loan waiver scheme, and having a white ration card as a determinant for loan waiver, Harish Rao said.
Taking objection to the conditionalities imposed for availing the waiver, BRS leader and former state agriculture minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy said, “Having announced that white ration cards will not be used for availing schemes, the CM has made a u-turn in just four days. The KCR government had waived Rs 16,144.10 crore for 35.31 lakh farmers in the first phase and Rs 13,000.51 crore for 22,98,039 farmers in the second phase. Rs 6,440 crore was left over but the Congress made it seem that no benefit was extended to the farmers.”
How can ration cards become a pre condition when they have neither been given since 2015, by the KCR government nor the Congress? Excluding loans older than 2018 should be reconsidered as many farmers had not paid them hoping KCR would waive them. Prerequisites like putting a cut-off date and ration card were not said when they made the promise. These are being imposed to reduce loan waiver burden, said BJP Medak MP M. Raghunandan Rao.
Welcoming the waiver at one go Ravi Kanneganti, state committee member of (Rythu Swarajya Vedika) RSV said, “It would have been better if the loan waiver was restricted to Rs two lakhs. Allowing waiver to those who have more loans with the condition that they repay the remaining amount will benefit the absentee landowners. Blanket waivers are not useful. Targeted waivers by constituting a debt relief commission when calamities strike would be useful to farmers. Blanket waiver also leaves out tenant farmers. The money is better spent on seeds, fertilizers etc.”
In a release, Telangana Rythu Sangham questioned, “There are many families who don’t have aadhaar cards, ration cards and pass books. The government received 12 lakh applications for issuing pass books in its praja palana survey. Exempting self help groups, joint liability groups, rythu mitra groups, and loan eligibility cards given to tenant farmers will exclude loans availed by the dalit, tribal and backward communities. Not considering loans rescheduled owing to crop failures because of drought and calamities is unjustified.”
Banks gave loans to just 43 lakh out of the 72 lakh farmers in the State. Of them only 31 lakh avail PM Kisan. Some banks had rescheduled loans availed between 12/12/2018 and 9/12/2023 in January 2024 to implement loan waiver. The government order should be rewritten to provide relief to these loans, said P. Sudarshan Rao, president of the Telangana Rythu Sangham.