Telangana CM announces more farm loan waivers, benefiting 3.14L farmers
What's the story
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday announced the fourth phase of the state's farm loan waiver. The latest phase will cost the government ₹2,747 crore and benefit an estimated 3.1 lakh farmers. With this announcement, the total expenditure on the farm loan waiver has now reached a staggering ₹21,000 crore, covering over 25 lakh farmers across Telangana.
Public announcement
Reddy unveils loan waiver at farmers' festival
Reddy announced the decision at a public meeting at the farmers' festival (Rythu Panduga) in Mahbubnagar. The meeting was held to mark the Congress government's one year in office on December 7. The fourth phase includes waivers for crop loans up to ₹2 lakh, after previous phases waived loans up to ₹1 lakh on July 18, up to ₹1.5 lakh on July 30, and again up to ₹2 lakh on August 15.
Political challenge
Reddy challenges PM Modi, other CMs to debate
Reddy has also thrown down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao, and other state chief ministers for a debate on the issue. He said, "We promised and delivered with the blessings of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi." He slammed the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government for waiving crop loans of only up to ₹1 lakh in four installments in its first term.
Past comparison
Reddy criticizes previous government's loan waiver
Further, Reddy alleged that from 2018 to 2023, the BRS promised another ₹1 lakh waiver but delayed it till their second term's last year. He claimed that the BRS sold the Outer Ring Road and deposited ₹11,000 crore into farmers' accounts, of which ₹8,596 crore went toward interest due to delays. The actual waiver was only ₹2,500 crore, he claimed.