HYDERABAD: The State government will take up the waiver of crop loans only after disbursing the Rythu Bandhu scheme amounts. The State government is all set to disburse around Rs 6,000 crore under Rythu Bandhu, the investment support scheme to farmers, in the last week of this month or in the first week of June. It will take 15 days to disburse the amount to farmers. The State government will take up the first instalment of crop loan waiver only after that. “We cannot take up Rythu Bandhu and crop loan waiver simultaneously,” an official said. According to sources, due to financial stress, the government take up the two important schemes of farmers one after the other.
Besides Rs 6,000 crore Rythu Bandhu, the State government has to disburse around Rs 1,000 crore in May and another Rs 1,000 crore in June for Aasara pensions. The hiked Aasara pension amount will be implemented from April. The April amount will be given to the beneficiaries in May. The proposals to pay enhanced Aasara pension amount was sent to the government and waiting for the nod. Rythu Bandhu and Aasara pension amounts put together it would be around Rs 8,000 crore to be paid in May/June. “We have planned for the payment of Rythu Bandhu for the last two months. The tax collections will be used for the payment of the amounts,” an official said.
‘No discussion on waiver’
With the doubling the Aasara pension amounts from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,016 and adding the beneficiaries due to the reduction of age from 60 to 58 years, the annual expenditure of the government on the social security pensions increased from Rs 6,000 crore to around Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 13,000 crore. Thus, the Aasara pension amount comes to over Rs 1,000 crore per month.
However, another major assurance given by the TRS government is to waive around Rs 24,000 crore crop loans, up to Rs 1 lakh to each farmer. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has already announced that crop loan waiver would be taken up in three to four instalments, on the lines of previous crop loan waiver. If the State government waived Rs 24,000 crore in four instalments, then it comes around Rs 6,000 crore per year. The State government would take up the crop loan waiver only after clearing the Rythu Bandhu and Aasara pension amounts, an official said. According to sources, due to financial stress the payment of Rs 12,000 or Rs 13,000 to the pregnant mothers is getting delayed. Though, the officials sources averred that the financial situation of the State is robust and the revenue growth is pegged at 20 per cent, they said that taking up of too many big schemes at one go was pinching the State’s economy.
The sources hinted that there would be no hefty hike in salaries for the State government employees when the government implements the first Pay Revision Commission (PRC) report soon.