BRS finds government’s crop loan waiver guidelines deceptive

Former minister Niranjan Reddy argued that seeking complaints from farmers regarding loan waivers would create disputes among them and said the Congress party, which gained power by making election promises, was now looking for excuses to escape those promises.

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi found the guidelines issued by the Congress government for the crop loan waiver objectionable and deceptive. The party accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of backtracking on his promise to disregard ration cards, made just four days earlier.

In a statement, former agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy said the guidelines were an attempt to create confusion and meant for the Congress to find excuses from implementing the scheme. He reminded that while the previous governments used ration cards merely to identify families, the new guidelines exclude farmers with over 10 acres and having pink cards from the scheme.

---

“What about farmers without ration cards?” he asked.

Niranjan Reddy argued that seeking complaints from farmers regarding loan waivers would create disputes among them and said the Congress party, which gained power by making election promises, was now looking for excuses to escape those promises. He questioned the need for agricultural officials to implement loan waivers and verify the validity of white ration cards when PM KISAN data was available.

“The government’s lack of sincerity about loan waivers is evident in these confusing and divisive guidelines. This policy will increase political pressure on officials and create conflicts between them and farmers,” he said.

The BRS leader recalled that the previous K Chandrashekhar Rao government had introduced several pro-farmer schemes including free power supply, irrigation water, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima and crop loan waiver. The BRS government had waived off crop loans worth Rs.29,144.61 crore in two tranches, benefiting 58.3 lakh farmers.

“In contrast, the Congress party’s campaign falsely claimed that the KCR government did not waive farmers’ loans. They promised to waive all crop loans obtained till December 9 if they came to power. But now, they are limiting it to a few through these new guidelines,” he added.

Niranjan Reddy criticised the reliance on ration cards and PM-KISAN data for loan waivers, arguing that it undermined the purpose of the crop loan waiver scheme. He also questioned the government’s delay in imposing these restrictions and the absence of clear sanctions.

“The government is misleading farmers by promising crop loan waivers, while imposing unnecessary restrictions. Even farmers with five acres and having a job with Rs.30,000 monthly salary, are paying income tax. This deception is unacceptable,” he asserted.

He demanded the State government to clarify how many farmers were eligible to receive the promised Rs 2 lakh loan waiver. He criticised the reliance on PM-KISAN data, calling it a betrayal of farmers. “The government is not genuinely interested in improving the conditions of farmers,” he said.

Meanwhile, BRS leader Manne Krishank termed the government’s decision to make ration card a criteria for farm loan waiver as an attempt to fool farmers. He reminded that the Chief Minister himself made it clear that ration card would not be a criteria for the loan waiver and now had taken a U-turn.