Naidu Cheating Farmers On Loan Waiver: YSR Congress

Describing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu's decision to constitute a committee to recommend guidelines on farm loan waiver as an act of hoodwinking and as delaying tactics, the YSR Congress Party today asked him to implement his loan waiver promise in letter and spirit.

YSR Congress Party farmers' wing convener M V S Nagireddy told reporters that farmers were agitated over the decision of the government which has constituted a committee to look into the matter instead of waiving off the loans straightaway.

"The TDP had promised to announce the waiver of all agricultural loans before the elections. Chandrababu Naidu asked people not to repay their loans including gold loans taken for agricultural purposes. The TDP had also issued advertisements in newspapers promising waiver of crop loans, tractor loans and gold loans. Instead of announcing the waiver, Naidu has now appointed a committee. This is just to hoodwink the people. The farming community is agitated over these delaying tactics," he said.

Reddy said the decision to constitute a committee for formulating guidelines for the waiver of farm loans, DWCRA loans and weavers' loans was not acceptable.

"In the past, several committees were constituted on farmers' issues, including the Mohan Kanda committee, the Swaminathan committee, the Jayanthi Ghosh committee and the Bhupendra-Huda-led-CMs' committee. The working of all these committees came to naught. This committee too will go the same way," he remarked, adding that in fact loans taken for processing and cold storage units are also treated as agricultural loans.

The TDP in Telangana was asking CM K Chandrasekhara Rao to implement the loan waiver promise in full, while in Andhra Pradesh it was doing things the other way round, Nagi Reddy said, and added, "Naidu wants to fill the committee with bank officers who are opposing the loan waiver, and get a report that will leave the farmers in the lurch."

He asked Naidu to first implement the loan waiver and then constitute a committee to have guidelines on reimbursement of the funds to the banks. "Or else, we will not keep quiet," he warned. (INN)