Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has ruled out the scope for waiver of loans availed by farmers.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Reddy termed as ‘impractical’ the promise of loan waiver. In an indirect reference to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s promise to waive crop loans, he said parties that were giving the assurance were ‘hoodwinking’ the farmers.
He pointed out that a whopping amount of Rs. 52,000 crore was proposed to be disbursed as loans to farmers this year and this amount would reach Rs. 60,000 crore next year. “When the UPA government announced loan waiver across the country, the total amount was pegged at Rs. 60,000 crore. The quantum of loan disbursed in the State alone is expected to exceed this figure next year,” he said.
‘Farmer-friendly’
Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy said farmers reposed their confidence in the Congress government as ‘farmer-friendly’ government and gave their mandate in favour of the ruling party in more than half of the primary agricultural cooperative societies (PACS).
He, however, evaded a direct reply when asked whether the government was treating the results as an endorsement of his government’s functioning even though the Congress could win just two seats in Assembly bye-elections since 2009. “I have never made such claims. The results mandated that the government should work with more vigour to serve the farmers’ cause,” he said.
They also reflected the confidence on the slew of measures implemented since 2004 by the Congress including free power and increase in the minimum support price of food grains.
Referring to the Jalayagnam programme, he said the new irrigation projects had resulted in creation of new ayacut or stabilisation of the existing ayacut in 23 lakh acres.
