Telangana State waives off Rs 27,712 crore crop loans

"The RBI report also stated that about 95 per cent of the beneficiaries of crop loan waiver scheme were marginal and small farmers."

Hyderabad: Telangana government has waived off crop loans amounting to Rs 27,718 crore, the highest by any State, since the formation of the State. Added to this, the State government has spent another Rs 28,000 crore under Rythu Bandhu benefiting farmers directly since the launch of the novel scheme.

In an informal interaction with the media at Telangana Bhavan here on Wednesday, IT and Industries Minister and TRS working president K T Rama Rao said while the opposition parties continue to accuse the State government on loan waiver implementation for political mileage, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its report, clearly stated that Telangana State government had waived off the highest number of crop loans in the country. Besides crop loan waiver and Rythu Bandhu, the State government was also implementing Rythu Bima, input subsidy and uninterrupted free power supply among others.

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“The RBI report also states that about 95 per cent of the beneficiaries of crop loan waiver scheme were marginal and small farmers. Despite being the youngest State, Telangana has been progressive and has emerged as a frontrunner among the top performing States in the country,” he said.

The Minister said that despite the crisis on account of Covid-19 pandemic, the State government had released Rs 7,200 crore for Rythu Bandhu, Rs 1,142 crore for Rythu Bima and another Rs 14,000 crore towards loan waiver among others. A whopping Rs 56,000 crore was disbursed into the bank accounts of beneficiaries directly, the Minister said.

Notwithstanding the allegations of the opposition parties, Rama Rao pointed out that the agricultural GSDP had increased by over 300 times in the last six years since the formation of the State. “Per capita income of people in the State has doubled during the corresponding period. Central agencies have been all praise for the State government. They also reported that the farmer suicides had come down considerably in the State,” he added.

Asked about the fate of farmers who suffered severe losses during the recent rains, the Minister said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who had implemented several welfare schemes for farmers, will respond on the issue. “The State Cabinet will meet, deliberate and take a decision in this regard. We are second to none in the country when it comes to agriculture and farmers’ welfare,” he said.

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