Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Tuesday urged banks to restructure loans and explore the possibility of lowering interest rates to ease the financial burden on farmers and other sections affected by El Niño.
He was addressing a special session on ‘Drought Relief Measures for Kharif 2026’ organised by the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC) here.
“Along with restructuring existing loans, fresh credit should be extended to farmers for the Rabi season,” he said, urging banks to adopt a proactive approach in providing financial assistance to various sections of society.
Vikramarka, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the farming community had been the worst affected by the rainfall deficit. He asked banks to also consider the needs of students dependent on education loans, women's self-help groups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
The Congress government will launch the ‘Rajiv Yuva Vikasam’ scheme on November 19 to support unemployed youth, he said, according to an official release.
“The farmers did their part. Unfortunately, the rainfall they depended on did not materialise. A failed monsoon must not become a failed relationship between a farmer and his bank,” Vikramarka said.
Stressing that El Niño had brought climate risks directly into the lives and livelihoods of farmers, he said the state government had declared 365 mandals across 31 districts drought-affected, of which 111 were classified as severely affected.
“Behind these numbers are families who invested their savings and borrowed in the reasonable expectation of a harvest,” he said.
“The same rainfall deficit puts pressure on groundwater resources, the electricity grid, the state's finances and farmers' repayment capacity. Each of us sees a different part of the problem. Through this forum, we must respond to the whole of it,” he added.
On employment generation, the Deputy Chief Minister said the Telangana government had set a target of Rs 15,000 crore under the VB-G RAM G scheme, with the state contributing 40 per cent of the funds.
Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao also urged banks to extend support to the farming community in view of the rainfall deficit caused by the ‘Super El Niño’ phenomenon, the release said.
(With inputs from PTI)
