Harish Rao writes to Revanth, charges farm loan waiver incomplete

Hyderabad:Former Finance Minister and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao on Sunday expressed serious concerns over the implementation of the crop loan waive scheme of Rs 2 lakh.

In an open letter to Chief Minister A Reventh Reddy, he said it is disheartening to see how the state administration has continuously misled not only the people of Telangana but also the entire nation regarding the status of this waiver.

He charged that the Congress government, which came to power on the basis of promises made to hardworking farmers, specifically committed to waiving crop loans by December 9, 2023. However, this promise has been repeatedly delayed, and during the parliamentary elections, the timeline was pushed to August 15, 2024, with assurances that the waiver would be completed by Independence Day. To date, this has not been fulfilled. The Siddipet MLA claimed that he had obtained data from the State Bank of India (SBI) through an RTI on September 25, 2024, which shows that the majority of farmers have not benefited from the waiver, contrary to your government’s claims. The figures provided by SBI are: That out of 5,74,137 farmers with loans under Rs 1 lakh, only 2,99,445 have received the loan waiver. Similarly, among 2,62,341 farmers with loans between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh, only 1,30,915 loans have been waived. Likewise, out of 1,65,607 farmers with loans between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, only 65,231 have received the waiver.

Against this backdrop, Harish Rao claimed that the data reveals that nearly 50 per cent of farmersie., around 5.5 lakh have yet to see their loans waived, just within SBI. Similar numbers are likely across other banks.

Moreover, the promises made by the Congress government regarding loans exceeding Rs 2 lakhs have also turned out to be misleading. Many farmers, trusting your assurances, have taken high-interest private loans to meet the eligibility conditions, only to find the loan waiver still incomplete, as confirmed by the SBI report.

The BRS MLA said that the state government imposed 31 restrictive conditions that have disqualified many deserving farmers from receiving the waiver. Adding to this failure is your government’s inability to disburse Rythu Bandu funds during the Dusshera Kharif season. This marks the first time since the scheme’s inception under former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao that such a delay has occurred. The Rythu Bandu scheme, which has disbursed Rs 72,000 crores to farmers over the past six years, has been a lifeline for the agricultural community.

He urged the chief minister to immediately fulfill your government’s promises and complete the crop loan waiver before making further claims to the nation. The financial distress and erosion of trust among Telangana’s farmers caused by these broken promises must be addressed without delay.