Telangana govt releases guidelines for farm loan waiver

Hyderabad: The Congress government in Telangana on Monday announced much-awaited guidelines to implement farm loan waiver programme.

According to the guidelines, farmers are eligible for a waiver of Rs 2 lakhs of farm loans availed between December 12, 2018 and December 9, 2023.

Farm loan waiver was one of the major promises, apart from six guarantees that the Congress made in last year's assembly polls.

With the delay in implementing the farm loan waiver during the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had vowed to implement it by August. As a result, the government has been working tirelessly, devising strategies for resource mobilisation, among other things.

According to preliminary government estimates, there are at least 47 lakh farmers who have taken out farm loans, and the majority of them have loans less than Rs one lakh. Roughly, the government needs at least Rs 35,000 crore by August 15, the deadline fixed by Revanth Reddy to waive farm loans.

According to these guidelines issued in GO No 567, only one loan per family will be waived. Families with outstanding loan amounts exceeding Rs 2 lakh must settle the excess amount to qualify for the waiver benefit.

The Agriculture Commissioner would be the implementing authority for the farm loan waiver, while the National Informatics Centre (NIC) would be the IT partner.

To implement the farm loan waiver program, the government will soon launch an exclusive portal with all the details, including each farmer's loan account, data validation, eligibility, and more.

Apart from the exclusive portal, the agriculture department would also set up grievance cells to address complaints raised by farmers. They can lodge complaints on the portal or at the mandal level in the centers. Furthermore, every bank would appoint a nodal officer to coordinate with the agriculture department and NIC.

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said on Monday at a programme that the Congress government was committed to waiving crop loans in a single take to relieve farmers from debt burdens. This would enable lakhs of farmers to use their incomes for economic growth. He said that the process of waiving crop loans has already been initiated, and as announced by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, the crop loans would be waived off by August 15.

The irrigation minister highlighted that the Congress government was implementing various schemes aimed at the economic empowerment of farmers. He mentioned the launch of the Rythu Bharosa scheme immediately after taking office in December 2023, which provides investment support of Rs 15,000 per acre per annum to all farmers. 

According to Uttam Kumar Reddy, nearly 70 percent of Telangana's population is dependent on agriculture and related activities, making agriculture a priority for the Congress government in Telangana.

Uttam Kumar Reddy informed me that several important issues, including the crop loan waiver scheme, would be discussed in the forthcoming Assembly session.