Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Monday released Rs 5,809.78 crore at one go to waive off crop loans of farmers up to Rs 1 lakh.
Rao directed finance officials to transfer the money to banks, in a move that would benefit 16.67 lakh farmers across the state.
The farm loan waiver was a pre-poll promise of the BRS during the 2018 Assembly elections, but its implementation was delayed due to funds crunch. The government, in the past four years, waived off loans amounting to Rs 35,000 each.
On August 2, Rao announced that the government would complete the pending crop loan waiver scheme by September 15, at an expenditure of Rs 19,000 crore.
Officials started crediting the funds to farmers’ accounts starting August 3, with loan amounts up to Rs 43,000, each, cleared on August 4.
With Monday’s fund transfer, all farmers who owe banks up to Rs 1 lakh have been covered.
However, there is no clarity on when the funds will be released for farmers who owe loans of more than Rs 1 lakh. The government will waive off Rs 1 lakh, while the rest would be cleared by the farmers.
