The Congress had promised to waive loans under ₹2 lakh in its manifesto ahead of the assembly elections in Telangana. Now, ‘technical issues’ are being citied as reason for gaps.
Published Aug 23, 2024 | 6:00 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 23, 2024 | 10:14 PM
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy.
While the Congress government in Telangana patted itself on the back for waiving the loans of farmers under the Rythu Runamaafi (farm loan waiver) scheme and advertised this on metro pillars of the state capital, the gaps in its implementation are glaring. The number of beneficiaries and the amount of money disbursed is woefully lower than advertised. Some farmers, even in Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s constituency, still await the waiver.
Officials themselves claim that about 40 percent of loans are yet to be waived in Kodangal alone. Kiran Kumar, branch manager of Andhra Pradesh Grameen Vikas Bank in Kodangal, said, “I would estimate that about 60 percent of the farm loans less than ₹2 lakh from this branch have been waived; with 40 percent remaining.”
With the election victory, Congress released funds for the waivers in three tranches. The first two phases in July cleared about ₹12,000 crore of farmer debts under ₹1.5 lakh. On 15 August, the third phase was released, aimed to clear out the remainder of farmer debts. Farmers whose debt was less than ₹2 lakh are eligible for the waiver.
Chandra Nayak and Shankar Nayak are two farmers from Kodangal. While Shankar had his loan waived, Chandra did not
While many farmers were relieved to have their debts written off, some said the entire loan amount had not been cleared.
Chandra Nayak, who grows red gram, and corn on six acres about 12 km from Kodangal, said, “I borrowed ₹1.3 lakh and my wife borrowed ₹1.2 lakh, neither of us got the benefit of the waiver.” He said he hangs on to the hope that the government will come to his aid too.
Chandra’s 33-year-old brother Shankar Nayak, however, was more fortunate. “The government waived ₹1.3 lakh of my loan, in the second tranche,” said the farmer, who owns 4.5 acres on which he grows corn and groundnuts. “The government cleared the whole amount in one shot, and we are relieved,” he said.
Another farmer, Srinivas, who owns 2 acres of land five kilometres from Kodangal, said, “My ₹80,000 loan was cleared in the first tranche.” He said the Congress waiver worked better than the one implemented by the BRS government, since it cleared his loan in one go instead of in installments.
Farm loan waivers have been part of the electoral politics of the Telugu states. In 2014, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the erstwhile Telangana Rashtra Samithi announced farm loan waivers for the newborn states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Similarly, in December 2023, Congress made the promise during its Assembly election campaign.
The Congress promised to waive loans under ₹2 lakh in its manifesto ahead of the assembly elections in Telangana. This was one of six ‘grand’ promises aimed at the progress of the state.
Kiran Kumar told South First that the waiver is followed by fresh loan applications in large numbers. “We are issuing 50 to 60 new loans each day following the release of the waiver funds.”
There are many farmers who have approached the District Agriculture Officer for redressal, since their loans have not been waived even though they are eligible for waiver, he said.
Director of Agriculture in Telangana, Dr B Gopi, said, “We collected data for the waiver from banks, not directly from farmers. This data needs to be validated.” The priority would be to waive the loans of verified borrowers, and errors caused by data mismatch will be addressed, he said. The guidelines for the waiver stipulate that the Agriculture Department take cognisance of grievances and redress them within 30 days.
“If land records don’t match, the family loans aren’t grouped, the Aadhaar details don’t match, or the interest is more than the principal amount, we can’t waive the loans without due diligence,” Dr B Gopi said.
He pointed out that technical issues also contributed to the non-disbursement of funds. “Besides, further instructions are awaited regarding loans exceeding ₹2 lakh.” He explained that agriculture department officials were visiting farmer households to resolve the issue of family grouping of loans. The government has clarified in its guidelines that in case of loans over ₹2 lakh in one family, the loan taken by women will be cleared first.
The BRS began their Rythu Bandhu scheme to provide farmers with assistance to exit the vicious debt cycle. It was dubbed the Farmer Investment Support Scheme, and assured ₹5,000 to the farmers at the start of the crop season to cover operational costs.
Starting in 2018, the BRS government propped it up as a flagship scheme. However, following Congress’ advent to power, it was among many schemes discontinued, technically at least. The Congress alleged that Rythu Bandhu was inefficient, and the BRS regime credited money to scores of ineligible landowners under the scheme.
Like Haritha Haram, the 2015 BRS government scheme to increase the forest cover of the state, was replaced by the Vajrotsava Vana Mahotsavam, Rythu Bandhu also found its replacement in Rythu Bharosa.
The Congress plans to pay out ₹7,500 per acre per season under the new Rythu Bharosa scheme, a 50 percent hike from the amount paid under the earlier scheme. “We received the last Rythu Bandhu in December, but since then its continuation has been a question mark,” said Shankar Nayak, adding that he did not see much difference apart from the hiked sum in the new scheme.
Farmer Srinivas is grateful: “The loan waiver was already a help, Rythu Bharosa money will make life easier.”
Farmer Chandra Nayak said he had received support under Rythu Bandhu, but his loan was not waived. “I’m concerned,” he admitted.
Speaking at the Jalasoudha, Uttam Kumar Reddy revealed key figures from the implementation of the crop loan waiver
After the BRS and BJP said the Congress was undercutting farmers by disbursing ₹18,000 crore instead of the ₹31,000 crore it announced earlier, Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar admitted at a press conference that not all farm loans had yet been waived. He said the disbursement until now had come to about ₹17,900 crore.
Speaking at the Jalasoudha, Uttam Kumar Reddy said, “We couldn’t transfer the money to 1.65 lakh accounts as we lacked Aadhar details.” He said 6.5 lakh loans could not be cleared because of technical issues in bank accounts and the lack of a ration card. He said the government is working sincerely to clear remaining loans.
Uttam Kumar said 8 lakh farmers have got their full loan amounts cleared, since these were less than ₹2 lakh each. This implies that the number of loans the Congress could not pay were rather more than those already paid out, by about 15,000.
Meanwhile, the farmers of Jagtial and Adilabad have protested the non-payment of loans, demanding an unconditional crop loan waiver. The BRS has called for a statewide protest on 22 August demanding the waiver.
Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu has placed the onus of speedy disbursement on bankers. Speaking at the State Level Bankers Committee meeting on 20 August, he said banks had only released ₹7,500 crore of the ₹18,000 crore the government released.
As the Congress continues to release data amidst the farmers’ discontent, the grandiose advertisements with the chief minister’s face up front appear out of sync.
(Edited by Rosamma Thomas)
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