HYDERABAD: Acknowledging that some farmers have not been able to avail the farm loan waiver scheme due to issues with Aadhaar, ration cards, bank passbooks etc., Civil Supplies and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday asserted that the state government was committed to extending the scheme to all eligible.
Addressing a press conference at Jal Soudha along with Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and MLC T Jeevan Reddy, Uttam said that there was nothing like ineligibility as officials are working on sorting out all the technical issues.
Stating that over eight lakh farmers have availed loans of Rs 2 lakh and above, he said that as per the policy decision, Rs 2 lakh will be credited into the bank accounts of the farmers only after they clear the remaining loan amount. Asked about the issues related to ration cards, he said that the mandal agriculture officers will visit the residences of beneficiaries to verify their families.
Stating that as many as 1.2 lakh farmers have given incorrect Aadhaar details, Uttam said that some of them provided 11 or 13 digits instead of the standard 12 digits Unique Identification Number. Additionally, there were discrepancies in the names in the Aadhaar database and in bank accounts of 1.61 lakh farmers, he said, adding that the corrections required are being made.
Uttam also pointed out that 4.83 lakh farmers do not have ration cards, and agriculture officers have been directed to visit their homes to collect details.
BRS trying to mislead farmers on waiver, alleges Uttam
Giving details of funds released under the scheme, the Agriculture minister said that the government has so far waived around loans worth Rs 18,000 crore. He said that loans up to Rs 1 lakh were waived on July 18, followed by loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh on July 30, and loans up to Rs 2 lakh by August 15.
Uttam also accused the BRS of spreading misinformation on loan waiver in an attempt to mislead the farmers.
“During its 10-year rule, the BRS did not provide crop insurance or compensation to farmers despite their crops getting damaged on numerous occasions due to unseasonal rains. In comparison, the Congress government introduced a crop insurance scheme and has already compensated farmers for crops damaged by unseasonal rains and hailstorms. It is also committed to providing a Rs 500 bonus per quintal of fine variety paddy this season,” he said.
The minister also criticised the Centre and said that despite participating in several parliamentary debates on agriculture over the past five years, the BJP government failed to take any steps to address farmers’ issues.
He pointed out that while the Manmohan Singh government had waived agricultural loans on a large scale, the BJP has not even broached the subject, let alone taken action.