31 lakh bank accounts of farmers withheld as loan waiver funds not released: Uttam

31 lakh accounts of farmers have been withheld by the banks due to the dues unpaid by the government, said Congress leader N. Uttam Kumar Reddy

Congress leaders N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Geetha Reddy and Venkanna Yadav at the Rachabanda/ Rhythu Bharosa Yatra in Suryapet district on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Nalgonda MP and senior Congress leader N. Uttam Kumar Reddy blamed the TRS government for 31 lakh farmers unable to procure new loans as the government failed to waive crop loans of ₹1 lakh despite the promises made several times.

He said 31 lakh accounts of farmers have been withheld by the banks due to the dues unpaid by the government and with less than a fortnight left for the commencement of the Kharif season farmers are pushed into the trap of private money lenders who charge high interest rates. “Isn’t this the failure of the Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar,” he asked.

Addressing a series of meetings in different villages in the Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency on day 4 of the ‘Rachabanda/Rythu Bharosa Yatra’ on Tuesday, he said the government has so far cleared only two instalments. While loans up to ₹ 25,000 were waived in 2020, and in August 2021 loans up to ₹ 37,000 were cleared. Of 36.68 lakh farmers eligible for loan waiver up to ₹1 lakh, only 5.66 lakh farmers benefited from the last two instalments.

Mr. Reddy also slammed the Chief Minister for releasing just ₹1,171.38 crores, though ₹ 20,164.20 crore was allocated in annual budgets since 2018 for the waiver of crop loans. This is cheating the farmers, he said adding that KCR has created a financial mess in Telangana. He demanded that the State Government immediately credit ₹18,000 crore to the bank accounts of over 31 lakh farmers to ensure the renewal of their crop loans.

The former PCC president also said that the non-clearance of crop loan waiver amount in a single take deprived the farmers of benefiting from the Rythu Bandhu and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana schemes and they were unable to utilise ₹5,000 per acre per season from Rythu Bandhu and ₹ 2,000 under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana as the banks have adjusted those amounts towards their outstanding that accumulated since 2018.

Former minister, Dr J. Geetha Reddy said that the Warangal Declaration offers a comprehensive solution to all the problems being faced by the farming community.