36,561 farmers get crop loan waiver

Warangal: The State government waived crop loans to the tune of Rs 256 crore benefitting 36,561 farmers in Warangal district in two phases, Warangal district Collector Satya Sarada Devi said.

She revealed the details after participating in the videoconference in which Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy launched the second phase of crop loan waiver in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

In the first phase, the government credited Rs 113 crore to the bank accounts of 22,051 farmers who availed crop loans up to Rs 1 lakh. As part of the second phase, the government on Tuesday released Rs 143 crore to the 14,510 farmers, those who availed loans up to Rs 1.50 lakh, the Collector said.

Each farmer who had obtained crop loans between December 12, 2018 and December 9, 2023, will be eligible for the loan waiver up to Rs 2 lakh, the Collector said. She urged the bankers and agriculture officials to ensure the benefits of crop loan waiver to the farmers. A grievance cell has been set up in all 13 mandal headquarters of the district for the redressal of farmers’ complaints regarding crop loan waiver, Satya Sarada said.

Telangana State Cooperative Apex Bank (TSCAB) chairman Marneni Ravinder Rao described the crop loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh in one go as a huge initiative in farming history. He along with the Collector distributed cheques to the beneficiaries of the crop loan waiver scheme.

Additional collector G Sandhya Rani, agriculture officer Usha Dayal, Lead Bank manager Raju and horticulture officer Srinivas Rao were among others present.