Telangana: Congress government’s claims of 100 percent crop loan waiver exposed
The waiver was done in three installments and many farmers who availed loans below Rs 2 lakh were still running from pillar to post to get their loans waived
HYDERABAD: The Congress government’s announcement that the crop loan waiver is over and that what was promised has been done is raising many questions on the very credibility of the party with promises by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy himself now proving to be false.
On October 6 last year, Revanth Reddy, replying to a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the crop loan waiver had posted on X saying: “We will soon be implementing waiver of farmers, who have a loan of above Rs 2 lakh, once they clear the amount above the Rs 2 lakh limit…”
Similarly, while participating in the Chalo Raj Bhavan protest against the Adani Group on December 18, last year, he said: “Farmers can approach the District Collector in case their crop loans were not cleared. Already, Rs 18,000 crore was deposited into the Agriculture Department’s accounts. The balance of Rs 12,000 crore will be utilised for clearing loans above Rs 2 lakh after farmers clear the loan component above the ceiling limit…”
Videos of Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao announcing that the Cabinet would take a decision on farmers’ crop loans above Rs 2 lakh and that the decisions would be announced at Rythu Sadassu programmes, are being shared extensively on different social media platforms after he announced the winding up of the waiver scheme in the Assembly on Saturday.
“I will clearly announce the government’s decision. Crop loan is up to Rs 2 lakh per family and accordingly, Rs 20,616 crore was deposited into their accounts. The crop loan scheme is not for above Rs 2 lakh. You do not get confused and do not confuse farmers,” he told the Opposition.
Even regarding the waiver of loans up to Rs 2 lakh, the Congress government appears to be backtracking on its earlier promises. On June 21 last year, the State Cabinet approved a crop loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh that was secured between December 12, 2018, and December 9, 2023, in one installment.
Towards this, the government estimated that it would cost Rs 31,000 crore and expected that the crop loan waiver would benefit nearly 40 lakh families. However, the government spent only Rs 20,616 crore and claimed to have waived loans of 25 lakh families.
The crop loan waiver was done in three installments and many farmers who availed loans below Rs 2 lakh were still running from pillar to post to get their loans waived.
Narrating the farmers’ plight with facts and figures, many BRS MLAs had challenged the State government in the Assembly on a visit to any constituency, even those represented by the Congress MLAs to check if the waiver was implemented 100 per cent successfully.
The BRS MLAs charged that not even 50 percent of the farmers’ loans were waived and challenged to resign if they were proved wrong. The Congress has not responded to the challenge.
Even its ally CPI had its MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao stating in the Assembly that in Nidigonda village of Raghunathapalli mandal in Jangaon district, out of 554 farmers, only two received the loan waiver, 552 were excluded due to Aadhaar discrepancies.
Reminding that even Nageswara Rao had admitted the errors, he had demanded immediate corrective measures.
However, how the Congress announced the winding up of the scheme indicates that there could be no corrective measures and that those who did not get the waiver, even for loans below Rs 2 lakh, will be left ruing that they trusted the Congress.
