Banks deny loan waiver benefits to farmers

Mahabubnagar : Over 50 farmers from Gummadam village in Pebbair mandal, Wanaparthy district, staged a protest at the Gummadam Rythu Vedika on Saturday, demanding the immediate waiver of their agriculture loans as promised by the government.

The farmers, who had taken loans up to Rs 2 lakhs from the Andhra Pradesh Grameen Vikas Bank after 2023, expressed their frustration over the government’s failure to fulfil its loan waiver promise. They accused bank officials of denying them the benefit by citing various technical issues, such as non-updated Aadhar cards, missing ration cards, and unsubmitted land passbooks.

One of the protestors, Nenavath Kishan Nayak, voiced his anger, stating, “The bankers are providing false reasons to exclude us from the loan waiver list. If our documents were incomplete, how did they grant us the loans in the first place? We submitted everything as required, yet now they’re trying to avoid giving us the benefits promised by the government.”

Nayak further criticised the State government, led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, for allegedly betraying the farmers’ trust. “We voted for the Congress party because they promised to waive off loans up to Rs 2 lakhs and provide Rythu Bandhu support of Rs 15,000 per acre. Now, they are trying to escape their commitments by creating unnecessary hurdles. We demand the unconditional waiver of our loans and the immediate deposit of the Rythu Bandhu funds into our accounts. If the government fails to act, we will continue our agitation until our demands are met,” he warned.

In an effort to resolve the issue, the protesting farmers also approached the local Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO) for assistance. However, they reported facing similar challenges, with officials passing the responsibility back to the banks, who claimed that the waiver list was generated based on government-provided loan data.