Claiming that there was not one single farmer in the entire State who has been granted fresh loan of Rs.1 lakh after loan waiver, Rythu Sankshema Samithi has demanded that the State government credit the total amount of loan waiver in the farmers’ accounts, and increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for cotton by Rs.1,000.
Addressing a press meet here on Monday, retired High Court judge and Chairman of the Samithi B.Chandra Kumar said, broken promise by government, coupled with lack of insurance, is driving farmers to suicides.
“The oral promise in the meetings before elections was for waiving entire loan. In the TRS manifesto, it got limited to Rs.1 lakh.
Even in the GO for loan waiver, it was mentioned that loan up to Rs.1 lakh will be waived, and farmers would be given fresh loans.
Delay in settlement
But in implementation, only Rs.25,000 is being waived in each instalment,” Justice Chandra Kumar said.
Owing to delay in settlement of loans, the banks are charging 11 per cent interest instead of four per cent, and threatening the farmers that fresh loans would be given only when they renew the old loans. Further, premium paid for crop insurance was returned one-and-a-half years later, depriving them of the insurance amount.
More woes
To add to the woes, the Central Government paid only Rs.3,200 MSP per quintal of cotton, which is grossly insufficient, he said.
A team from the Samithi toured villages of Adilabad, Karimnagar and Warangal, and interacted with families of 20 farmers who killed themselves, Justice Chandra Kumar informed.
