As the stage is being set for the roll put of the crop loan waiver scheme, Telangana Government is making necessary arrangements to credit the amounts into loan accounts of farmers in different banks.
Waiver of loans up to ?1 lakh on Thursday, up to ?2 lakh loans waiver to follow
The scheme will be implemented for loans up to ?1 lakh on Thursday. Around 11.5 lakh farmers are expected to benefit from the loan waiver amounting to an estimated ?6,800 crore. The roll out will be followed by waiver of loans up to ?2 lakh by August 15, the deadline set by the Government for implementation of the promise, one among the six guarantees assured by the Congress in the run up to the previous assembly elections.
?31,000 crore additional burden
The total additional burden on the State exchequer on account of loan waiver up to ?2 lakh, in Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s own words, is around ?31,000 crore. But officials anticipate that the final figure could be over and above the estimations going by the number of eligible beneficiaries, data about whom had been prepared by the Agriculture department.
Source of funds for the crop loan waiver scheme
The Government reportedly mobilised the required amounts through the open market borrowings as well as the savings that accrued through rationalisation of spending as well as cutting down on the wasteful expenditure as assured by the Finance Minister in his budget address. The Government is reportedly looking at other alternatives to tap the resources as the Chief Minister is reportedly particular that loan waiver up to ?2 lakh should be implemented at one go by August 15.
According to senior officials, the loan waiver process will be preceded by a meeting of the State Level Bankers’ Committee to be chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao. The Deputy Chief Minister is expected to brief the bankers about the procedure that should be followed for waiving loans of eligible farmers based on the data submitted by the banks.
He is expected to caution bankers against diversion of the amount credited for loan waiver and instruct them that the amounts should be utilised strictly for the intended purpose. The district collectors have been instructed to conduct similar meetings with the district level bankers committees for a final verification of the data submitted by the banks before giving their go ahead for crediting the amounts into the loan accounts of the farmers.
Instructions have been issued to district authorities to ensure gathering of farmers at the Rythu Vedikas, the farmers’ platforms, in the evening. The Chief Minister is expected to address the farmers through video conference conveying his wishes to them on the loan waiver. He is expected to reiterate the Congress Government’s commitment to fulfil the assurance it has given to farmers.
Source: The Hindu