HYDERABAD: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao said on Friday that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s "lies" on farm loan waiver have again stood exposed.
He claimed that Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao’s statement has once again proved that the Chief Minister was making false claims that there was 100 per cent implementation of crop loan waiver scheme.
Rama Rao said in a statement that the Agriculture Minister’s statement that loans of 20 lakh farmers were yet to be waived exposed the ‘lies’ the Chief Minister had been spreading.
BRS leader alleged that the Congress government betrayed the farmers by not fully implementing the loan waiver scheme.
He recalled that the Congress party had promised to waive crop loans of up to Rs 2 lakh in one go on December 9, 2023, but even after 10 months, the loans of 20 lakh farmers have not been waived.
KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known, said that if the official figure is 20 lakh, one can imagine the actual number of farmers whose loans were yet to be waived.
KTR said the government has not only failed to waive the loans of all farmers but also did not give financial assistance to farmers under Rythu Bandhu scheme.
Nagaeswara Rao said on Thursday that out of 65.56 lakh farmers, 42 lakh had taken crop loans from banks. Of them, 22 lakh availed the loan waiver and the rest will also be extended the benefit soon.
He also said that the previous BRS government had waived the loans of only 20 lakh farmers, that too in the last year of its first term in 2018.
The Congress government says that it deposited Rs18, 000 crore in the bank accounts of 22 lakh farmers to waive their loans of up to Rs 2 lakh. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had said on September 17 that there were some difficulties and challenges but assured farmers that loan of every eligible farmer will be waived.