Hyderabad, July 18 (NSS): Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu has given instructions that the funds released for farmers’ loan waiver should be utilised exclusively for that purpose and should not be adjusted for any other loans.
“Farmers should not be inconvenienced at any cost,” he said.
Speaking at the meeting with the bankers on farmers’ loan waiver here on Wednesday, the Deputy Chief Minister said that Rs 31,000 crore would be released before end of August towards loan waiver for farmers.
He said that on July 18, over Rs 6,000 crore would be released under the loan waiver scheme for over 11 lakh farmers and the second instalment would also be released in July itself to cover farmers with loans upto Rs 1.5 lakh, later the loans of farmers upto Rs 2 lakhs would be released.
For those farmers with over Rs 2 lakh loan, bankers should talk to those farmers and recover the excess of amount over Rs 2 lakh and utilise the Rs 2 lakh to be released by the government to ensure no farmer owed loan to the bank, Bhatti said.
Describing loan waiver for farmers as a historical decision in the country itself, the Deputy Chief Minister said that no State government waived farmers loans to the tune of Rs 31,000 crore loans.
He recalled that before coming to power, Revanth Reddy as the PCC president and himself as the Congress Legislature Party leader went into election campaign after signing on the loan waiver guarantee.
“ We are now bound by our word and implementing loan waiver scheme for farmers in letter and spirit”, Bhatti Vikramarka said.
The State government will deposit Rs.31,000 crore in 40 lakh bank accounts under the loan waiver. This is the first time in the Indian banking history that such a huge amount will be recovered at one go.
Even in the corporate banking sector, never such huge amount was recovered ever by banks at one go, he pointed out.
Disclosing that State government will be introducing more programmes for the development of agriculture sector in future, Bhatti Vikramarka who is also the Finance Minister said agriculture sector contributed 16.5 percent to the State GS GDP and over 45 per cent of people were dependent on agriculture sector.
The Deputy Chief Minister directed the bankers that after crediting the funds sanctioned under the Farmers’ loan waiver, they should immediately sanction loans to farmers for their future requirements.
“No apathy should be displayed in sanction of loans to farmers and the Lead Bank should play the role of big brother,” he added.
