HYDERABAD: BRS working president KT Rama Rao alleged that the crop loan waiver was a big fraud on the farmers and his party would fight on behalf of the farmers against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for allegedly hoodwinking the farmers in the name of writing off their loans.
Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said that the farmers were staging protests at several place for not writing off their crop loans.
The government, which claimed that it waived the loans of all farmers, was foisting cases against those who staged dharnas demanding crop loan waiver in Talamadugu mandal in Adilabad district. The government even registered non-bailable cases against farmers, Rama Rao alleged.
He pointed that the CM and ministers were issuing contradictory statements on crop loans. While the CM said that the government waived crop loans of all farmers up to Rs two lakh, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy said that Rs 12,000 crore loans were yet to be cleared. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that only Rs 7,500 crore reached the farmers out of Rs 18,000 crore released by the state government, the former IT minister said.
“Whether this government has any clarity on the crop loan waiver or not?” wondered Rama Rao. He said that in Kosgi mandal in Kodangal, there were 20,239 farmers accounts in five banks. Out of this, the crop loans of only 8,527 farmers were waived, he claimed.
Rama Rao said that the BRS would organise dharnas at all mandal and Assembly headquarter towns against the attitude of the government for not implementing the crop loan waiver completely.