BRS walks out of Assembly after Agriculture Minister declares completion of crop loan waiver

Revanth Reddy promised to waive all crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh and did not specify about only one beneficiary per family, reminds Harish Rao

Hyderabad: The BRS staged a walkout from the Telangana Assembly on Saturday, protesting Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao’s claim that the farm loan waiver was completed. Former Minister T Harish Rao led the protest, stating that the Minister’s statement was false and misleading.

During the discussion on agriculture demands in the Assembly on Saturday, Nageswara Rao made it clear that the government had decided to waive crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh per family and there would be no loan waiver for loans beyond Rs 2 lakh. There were around 25 lakh such families for which the State government spent Rs 20,616 crore.

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“What we promised and what you perceived are different. You should not get confused and confuse people. We have completed the crop loan waiver,” he asserted.

Raising strong protest, Harish Rao reminded that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy promised to waive all crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh and did not specify about only one beneficiary per family. “He even suggested that those with higher loans should repay the excess amount to avail the crop loan waiver. Now, the government is renegading from its promises,” he said, before staging a walkout.

Earlier during the discussion, Harish Rao charged the Congress government with forcing farmers to pay interest due to delays in loan waivers. “They first promised waivers in December, then pushed it to August, September, and October. Farmers have been burdened with interest for five to nine months because of this delay,” he said.