With the commencement of the rainy season, farmers are bracing up by completing tilling of their land .
However, the disbursement of loans by banks has not yet begun and is expected to take some more time due to various reasons, including the current auditing of loan accounts by senior officials. On the other hand, the district has received an amount of Rs. 241.57 crore as half payment of the second instalment of loan waiver as promised by the State government. The amount is expected to be credited to the respective banks by Thursday.
According to sources, it would take another five days for the banks to commence the loan disbursement for the farmers whose loan waiver was promised by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) during the elections.
Meanwhile, as there is no alternative, the farmers are approaching private money lenders for loans as they have to start farming activity. “The interest rates charged by money lenders are very high ranging from Rs. 3 to Rs. 5 per Rs. 100 every month. Another interesting factor is that even the seeds and fertilizer shop owners are offering them loan without charging now.
They would charge both principal and interest after the harvest of crop. The traders are having two types of advantages in the process. They would get their product sold and also get an interest on the business turnover,” said K Narasimha Rama Sharma, a farmer from Ismailkhanpet.
However, the banks are doing regular business with farmers who took loans on their own and are not linked to the loan waiver scheme. Loans are being extended to them.
The authorities put Rs. 1,997.25 crore as agriculture loan target for the current financial year, of which Rs. 1,248 crore would be extended to farmers for Kharif and Rs.748 crore for Rabi. About four lakh farmers are expected to get benefitted by the crop loan.
