8,100 cr to be credited to farmers in two months

Chittoor : The state government was committed to transfer Rs 8,100 crore into the accounts of 25 lakh farmers in the state  within two months as final payment under any circumstances, said agriculture minister Somireddy Chandramohana Reddy.

In order to clear the pending and unsettled claims of farmers under  Farmers’ Debt Relief Scheme, it has been decided to conduct mega grievance cells in all the 13 districts in a phased manner in which no eligible farmer  would be left out under the scheme, he added.  

A grievance cell has been organised at Nagaiah Kalaskethram on Tuesday to resolve the claims of the farmers pertaining to Chittoor district to which farmers of 14 Assembly constituencies of the district attended.

Addressing  the farmers, the agriculture minister said that such grievance melas have already been held at Nellore, Kadapa, Prakasam , Anantapur and Vizianagaram districts  as per the instructions of  Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. “It is a record that the claims worth Rs 15,000 crore relating to 9.59 lakh farmers of the six districts were settled on the spot,” he said. 

“The Chief Minister implemented waiver of farm loans despite the state undergoing unprecedented financial crisis spending more than Rs 24,500 crore. The waiver in Telangana was for loans up to Rs 1 lakh, it is up to Rs 1.5 lakh in AP,  a sort of record. The governments of Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra have also implemented  farmers’ debt relief scheme after AP,” Chandramohan Reddy said. 

Admitting that certain lapses had taken place in the implementation of debt relief scheme due to the failure of some banks, he declared that not a single eligible farmer would be left out of the loan waiver. Stressing the need to convert  agriculture into a profitable venture, he said the state topped in the country in the implementation of drip and sprinklers  scheme besides taking up drive for nature farming.  

Industries minister N Amaranatha Reddy, participating in the programme, said input subsidy had been increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 15,000 per hectare and more than Rs 160 crore was directly remitted into the accounts of farmers in Chittoor district alone under this account. He called upon the farmers to adopt the latest technology for promoting more yields. 

ZP chairperson Girvani Chandra Prakash, Chittoor MLA D A Satya Prabha, MLC B N Rajasimhulu, Chittoor mayor K Hemalatha and others spoke.  Joint director of agriculture Vijaya Kumar  explained the progress in the implementation of farmers’ debt relief scheme in the district.