Telangana farmers are in for yet another loan waiver and a hike of ₹2,000 in the Rythu Bandhu grant. As promised in the election campaign, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced the waiver as he presented the Vote-on-Budget for 2019-20 on Friday in the Assembly.

To kick off the waiver this financial year, he allocated ₹6,000 crore. All farm loans as on December 11, 2018, with a cap of ₹1 lakh, will be paid off by the State Government. But farmers’ leaders say the allocation is too low and could offer only partial help.

“We estimate that the outstanding loans that attract the waiver at ₹15,000-₹16,000 crore. The allocation of ₹6,000 crore is too small considering the huge amount,” said Ravi Kanneganti, Convenor of Rythu Joint Action Committee. The farmers are worried that the interest component will go up if the loans are waived in phases.

Telangana, which attracted national attention for its Rythu Bandhu scheme last yeara also decided to increase the amount to ₹10,000 an acre (₹5,000 each in kharif and rabi seasons) from ₹8,000 an acre. The allocations have been increased to ₹12,000 crore for disbursals in 2019-20 from ₹10,000 crore. From this year, they will get ₹6,000 more, as the Centre announced a similar scheme in the recent Budget.

comment COMMENT NOW