Ready To Bear Interest Accrued On Farmer Loans: KCR

Stating that the banks had already given the full clearance certificates to the farmers in the loan waiver scheme, and had even offered new loans to the farmers, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said that the state government was ready to bear the interest accrued for the farmers due to the waiver happening in installments than in one step, if there was any claim by the Congress to that effect. He asked Congress members to submit details of any such cases across the state.

Congress Huzurnagar MLA N Uttam Kumar Reddy said his party would submit a list within 10 days.

Replying to the opposition parties' queries after Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy spoke as part of a short discussion on the crop loan waiver, minimum support price and allied agricultural matters, KCR said that the TRS government was more committed and concerned on the farmers' issues than the Congress.

The CM said that the spurious seed menace has turned into a big problem. Farmers who had no money to buy branded seeds were purchasing spurious seed and facing serious problems later. The government had included the spurious seed menace under the PD Act and filed several cases in this regard, he said.

Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy added that the government would pay Rs 4,000 per acre for a single crop from next year to the farmers to rid them of farm loans.

"By waiving off Rs 17,000 crores of loans, the TRS government relieved 35.3 lakh farmers in the state of a debt burden. We are filling 1,520 posts in the agriculture department and appointing one extension officer for every 5,000 acres to help selected crops deliver better yield," he said.