The Telangana government has made a key announcement regarding the ongoing farm loan waiver scheme. After already implementing the scheme in two phases, the government is set to complete the third phase in two days, covering the remaining eligible farmers. Minister Ponnam Prabhakar brought good news for those farmers whose loans were not waived due to technical issues. He announced that a special drive will be conducted for a month to ensure all eligible farmers receive their loan waivers.
Ensuring Justice for Eligible Farmers
In the first phase, loans up to ₹1 lakh were waived, and in the second phase, loans up to ₹1.5 lakh were covered. The third phase will see the waiver of loans up to ₹2 lakh. However, some farmers did not receive the benefits due to technical discrepancies such as minor spelling mistakes, pending family partitions, changes in ration cards due to marriage, and issues with land records under deceased parents’ names. These factors led to the exclusion of certain eligible farmers, causing distress and protests. The government has assured these farmers that their grievances will be addressed, and all eligible details will be collected to ensure justice.
BRS Criticism and Government Response
Leaders from the BRS party criticized the government, accusing it of making excuses to avoid granting loan waivers. Harish Rao, MLA from Siddipet, demanded that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy resign if the loan waivers were not implemented by August 15. BRS also set up a call center to collect complaints from farmers and put pressure on the government.
Responding to these criticisms, Ponnam Prabhakar urged farmers not to worry, assuring them that justice would be served. He retorted that during Harish Rao’s tenure as Finance Minister, 3 lakh farmers were denied loan waivers due to various excuses. He also criticized the BRS for not providing crop insurance and compensation, which he claimed led to farmer suicides. Ponnam further added that if call centers had been set up earlier instead of collection centers, it would have benefited the farmers.