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Farmer associations have asked the State government in Telangana not to exclude the rescheduled loans from the purview of the farm loan waiver scheme. They also urged the government not to insist on having a PDS (public distribution system) card and pattadar passbook (proof that a farmer owns a chunk of land) as lakhs of people don’t have such a card.
They also objected to the clause that left joint liability groups and Rythu Mitra groups out of the list of beneficiaries. A large number of poor and tenant farmers have taken loans through these groups, which proved to be very helpful, they pointed out.
“Making these groups ineligible would leave them in distress,” Telangana Rythu Sangham State President Pothineni Sudarshan Rao said.
Association Secretary T Sagar added that “over 12 lakh farmers have applied for a pattadar passbook on the Dharani portal. They are yet to get the card. Similarly, a large number of farmers have applied for a ration card. If you make them mandatory, lakhs of farmers will become ineligible”.
Though the State has about 72 lakh farmers, only 43 lakh farmers could secure loans from various banks.
The association also asked the government not to link the list of beneficiaries with those of the PM Kisan (a Central scheme) as it included only 31 lakh farmers. “This would leave a large number of farmers out of the scheme,” Sagar said.
Rescheduled loans
“Some banks have rescheduled loans (taken between December 12, 2018, and December 9, 2023) in January. Excluding these loans would harm the interests of thousands of farmers,” he said.
The association demanded that the government revise the order (GO) and make it inclusive.
BRS flays govt
Meanwhile, the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged that the Government was trying to exclude a large number of farmers from the list.
“Looking at the guidelines released by the government for the implementation of the crop loan waiver scheme, it is clear that the focus is more on filtering farmers than providing relief,” he said.
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