Congress demands hike in crop loan amount

​Hyderabad: The Congress party leaders on Tuesday urged Chief Secretary SK Joshi to address the issues of farmers, and submitted a memorandum in this regard at the Secretariat. 

Addressing the media, senior leader of the party KR Suresh Reddy said that farmers were unable to get loans from banks and there was a lot of difference between the amount of loan given by banks and the investment needed to raise the crops. 

He said that farmers would face troubles if the quantum of the loan was not raised and there would be no use in giving token amounts to them without addressing the problems. 

Instead of giving some money, it would be better to instill confidence in them, he said, adding that the party had studied the issues of farmers and submitted a report to the Chief Secretary. 

Telangana Congress Kisan Cell chairman M Kodanda Reddy said that the farmers have not been getting the Minimum Support Price for their produce for the last four years. The crop loss was not enumerated because of hailstorms, he said, adding that the Chief Minister did not participate in the bankers committee meeting in the last four years. 

Deputy Floor Leader of Congress in Legislative Council Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy said that government should control the menace of spurious seeds. The Civil Supplies Corporation should pay Rs 1,500 crore to farmers for procuring the farm products, he demanded. 

“Though the Kharif season has begun, the agriculture plan is not announced. Government has failed to create awareness among farmers, who have been incurring losses due to BT-3 seeds,” Ponguleti said. Congress official spokesperson Dasoju Sravan threatened to take up agitation if the government ignored the farmers’ issues.