‘I-Day gift’: Ahead of Telangana Assembly polls, KCR waives farm loans up to Rs 1 lakh

State Finance Minister T Harish Rao said that with this, the BRS government is fulfilling its election promise of waiving farmers’ loans. While assuming power for the second consecutive time in the state in 2018, KCR had vowed to waive agricultural loans of less than Rs 1 lakh that were availed of till December 11, 2018.

The loan waiver will be implemented in a phased manner, he said. Earlier, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief directed officials to formulate a comprehensive action plan in this regard. On his instructions, officials of the agriculture and finance departments wrote to the banks. It took a year to complete the entire process, an official said.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, the government faced difficulties in mobilising resources for the loan waiver scheme. However, it has already paid Rs 1,943.64 crore to banks in respect of 7 lakh (7,19,488) farmers who had taken loans up to Rs 50,000. This amount has been adjusted in loan waiver accounts.

On August 2, KCR carried out a comprehensive review of the agricultural sector and announced that the loan waiver scheme will be implemented. Officials have been given clear instructions to complete the process within 45 days. Finance Minister Harish Rao also issued a Budget Releasing Order (BRO) in this regard on August 3.

Announcing the waiver, the chief minister said Telangana has “once again proved to be a farmer-friendly state”. “Irrigation facilities have been provided like nowhere else in the country. Under Mission Kakatiya, 35,000 abandoned ponds and water bodies have been repaired and a multi-purpose project like Kaleshwaram…creates a miracle in the field of irrigation. Making fertilizers available to farmers on time, providing seeds, stringent laws like PD (Preventive Detention) Act to curb the sale of spurious seeds, buying every seed grown by farmers, and providing marketing facilities to them are among a slew of measures taken by the state government to strengthen the farming community,” he underlined.