Congress demands waiver of crop loans in single take

Telangana: Hyderabad: March 19 (HS)Former minister and ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir demanded that the State Government waive of crop loans in a single take and not split them into four instalments like it did in the past.

Shabbir Ali, in a media statement on Wednesday, said that the guidelines for Crop Loan Waiver Scheme issued by the State Government on Tuesday were not comprehensive and promises no major relief for farmers. He said that the government plans to waive off outstanding loans up to Rs. 25,000 in the 1st phase and for remaining farmers, it proposes to waive off the amount in four instalments. “TRS Govt is repeating the mistake it committed while waiving off crop loans in the past.

Crop loans of nearly Rs. 17,000 Crore were waived off in four instalments and it did not benefit the farmers. They faced harassment from the banks continuously for four years and even after loan waiver, they could not get rid themselves off their debts. The present outstanding crop loans of nearly Rs. 25,000 crore clearly shows that the previous loan waiver scheme has failed to deliver the desired results,” he said.

Shabbir Ali said based on the previous experience, the State Government should consider waiving off the crop loans in a single take. Else, he said a mechanism should be worked out wherein all eligible farmers should be given ‘No Dues Certificate’ on immediate basis. State Govt should take guarantee of the payment and relieve farmers completely. They should be eligible to get fresh loans and all their documents and gold must be released by the banks, he demanded.

The Congress leader said that Finance Minister T. Harish Rao in his budget speech for 2020-21 admitted that only 583,916 farmers have crop loans below Rs. 25,000 and they could be waived off with an amount of Rs. 1,198 Crore. This will benefit only 16% of nearly 36 lakh eligible farmers and only 4.8% of the outstanding loan amount could be waived off.

Shabbir Ali also demanded that the State Government fix a clear cut deadline for implementing the crop loan waiver scheme.”It took nearly 15-16 months for the TRS Govt to take the first step to fulfill the promise. In view of the ongoing economic crisis, there is still no guarantee that the scheme would be implemented as promised.