Hyderabad, May 24 (FN Agency) Nalgonda MP & former TPCC president Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday condemned the TRS Government for not honouring the promise of waiving off crop loans up to Rs. 1 lakh. Uttam said banks have reportedly withheld the accounts of over 31 lakh farmers across the state for non-payment of the loan dues. Addressing a series of meetings in different villages in the Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency on the Day-4 of the Rachabanda/Rythu Bharosa Yatra near here, Uttam slammed Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao for not honouring the promise of waiving off crop loans up to Rs. 1 lakh even after completing more than three years in power in the second term. He pointed out that the TRS Government had promised in the 2018 Assembly elections that it would waive off crop loans up to Rs. 1 lakh, but so far, only two instalments were cleared –up to Rs 25,000 were waived off in 2020, and in August 2021 loans up to Rs. 37,000 were cleared.
Of 36.68 lakh farmers eligible for loan waiver up to Rs. 1 lakh, only 5.66 lakh farmers benefited from the last two installments while the bank accounts of the remaining 31.02 lakh farmers have been kept on hold due to non-payment, the Congress MP said. Uttam said that the over 31 lakh farmers would not be eligible to apply for fresh crop loans as the RBI rules mandates clearance of crop loans in three seasons from the time of credit offtake to be eligible for renewal of accounts. He also pointed out that Rs. 20,164.20 crores allocated in annual budgets since 2018 for waiver of crop loans, the TRS Government released only Rs. 1,171.38 crore in two installments. The Congress MP demanded that the State Government immediately credit Rs 18,000 crore to the bank accounts of over 31 lakh farmers to ensure the renewal of their crop loans.
Uttam said that CM KCR was distributing financial assistance to the families of Punjab farmers who died during the agitation against the BJP government’s three farm laws. But he was neglecting the farmers of Telangana who are now being denied fresh loans due to non-clearance of old loans. Instead of prioritising the crop loan waiver scheme, the KCR Government is shamelessly asking the farmers to clear off their outstanding on their own without waiting for it to release the amount. The situation would turn worse if immediate measures are not taken to renew the crop loans for over 31 lakh farmers, he cautioned and asked the TRS Government to come up with a White Paper on the status of crop loans in Telangana State. Addressing different meetings, former minister Dr J. Geetha Reddy said that the promises made in the Warangal Declaration would revolutionise the farming sector in Telangana after Congress returns to power in the next elections.