DEMAND WAIVER OF LOANS WITHOUT STRINGS Farmers’ bodies stage protest at Collectorate

Farmers’ associations staged a massive protest in front of the Collectorate here on Tuesday demanding that the State government implement a Rs 2 lakh crop loan waiver at one go and without any strings attached to it.
Telangana Rytu Sangham and Telangana Rashtra Rytu Sangham led the protest on a massive scale.
Telangana Rashtra Rytu Sangham district secretary Kondaparti Govinda Rao and Telangana Rytu Sangham district secretary Bonthu Rambabu spoke at the meeting held on the occasion.
Telangana Rytu Sangham State uni president Potineni Sudarsan Rao and Telangana Rashtra Rytu Sangham State unit president Bhagam Hemant Rao found fault with the conditions incorporated in the GO No. 567 released by the State government. These conditions crippled the loan waiver scheme to some extent, he said.
The state government declared that it had credited Rs 17,933 crore in the bank accounts of 22 lakh farmers, he said, pointing out that the congress promised that it would waive the crop loan up to Rs 2 lakh at one go at the time of the elections. However, at least 40% of the farmers could not get loan waiver benefits.
In Khammam district alone, 1,15,343 farmers benefited under the loan waiver in all three phases against the total number of 3.17 lakh farmers. In Khammam district, at least 2.55 lakh farmers have been eagerly waiting to derive benefits under the loan waiver.
When the protest was underway, Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao was in the Collectorate. He told the farmers that the loan waiver was not implemented for the past 10 years. The CAG found fault with the loan waiver in its report. Therefore, the state government has been taking all precautions to avoid mistakes pointed out by the CAG.
The Minister said that the agriculture officials would visit the farmers’ houses and report the facts. The state Cabinet would discuss the issue of the farmers whose total borrowings crossed Rs 2 lakh.
CPM district secretary N Nageswara Rao, CPI district secretary Potu Prasad, Telangana RytuSangham district president Madineni Ramesh, secretary Bontu Rambabu, Telangana Rashtra RytuSangham district president Dondapati Ramesh, secretary KondapartiGovinda Rao and other leaders took part in the protest programme.