Less than 24 hours after the TRS government apparently fixed a cut off date for waiver of farm loans, farmers across the region are up in arms against the government decision and term it betrayal of the faith they had reposed in the party during the recent elections.
Instead of bringing the much expected relief to the beleaguered farming community, the announcement has caused heartburn among a majority of them.
“We did not repay crop loan in 2012-13 expecting relief in the form of waiver. The cap on waiver makes me ineligible for any such relief”, rued Mante Chinnaiah of Talamadugu in Adilabad. Banks in Adilabad have extended credit of Rs.1,300 crore between June 2013 and June 2014, Lead District Manager G. Uday Ranjan Sharma said.
In Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s native Medak district, the riders on loan waiver did not sync properly with the farming community. “There are many farmers who are unable to repay loans for the last three years awaiting loan waiver. Fixing conditions is not fair”, Anand, a farmer of Peddapur having outstanding dues of Rs. 20,000 said.
The government plans did not bring much cheer to the farming community in Warangal district as only one-lakh small and marginal farmers are likely to get relief. Criticising the decision, Akhila Bharata Rythu Sangham district general secretary S. Vasudeva Reddy said: “The government appears to be not ready to take off the burden of farmers”.
Welcoming the government decision M. Ramesh, a farmer of Labarthi village who owns two acres of land said: “I have to repay Rs. 20,000 crop loan and will be happy, if it’s waived”.
There is a mixed response among the Karimnagar district farmers to the loan waiver decision. Ramesham, a farmer from Manakondur mandal, said he had availed crop loan of Rs. 50,000 two years ago but did not repay expecting that the new government would announce loan waiver.
“But, it is shocking that the government has kept aside majority of farmers from the scheme”, he noted.
In Nizamabad district, farmers have expressed disappointment over the cap on crop loan waiver. Bagarthi Baga Reddy, a progressive farmer in Lakshmapur, said there should not be time limit and the benefit be given to all farmers. Lead Bank Manager Ramakrishna Rao said at least 2.25 lakh farmers would get relief if crop loan up to Rs.1 lakh was waived and the burden to the government exchequer could be about Rs.1,700 crore.
The government’s move is likely to benefit less than half of the total component of crop loans taken by farmers in Khammam district. It amounted to mere eyewash as it would deprive lakhs of distressed farmers of the benefit, Khammam division secretary of AIKMS M. Nageswara Rao said.
In Nalgonda, K Sathyamma, a woman farmer, said that she had taken Rs. 17,000 loan from a bank during 2012-13 and renewed it.
However, she fears whether she is eligible for waiver or not because she had borrowed the loan two years ago.
(With inputs from by S. Harpal Singh (Adilabad), K.M. Dayashankar (Karimnagar), P. Sridhar (Khammam), G. Srinivasa Rao (Warangal), R. Avadhani (Sangareddy), P. Ram Mohan (Nizamabad) and T. Karnakar Reddy (Nalgonda).
