Thousands of farmers who gave away their lands for the construction of Andhra Pradesh capital city at Amaravati and were allotted residential and commercial plots in return, have at last found some value for their plots.
In the first phase of land pooling scheme for Amaravati capital city in 2015, the then TDP government headed by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu acquired 34,385 acres of land from 28,526 farmers in 29 villages through AP capital region development authority (APCRDA).
As per the agreement signed with APCRDA, the farmers were allotted 250-400 square yards of commercial plot, depending on the location, besides 1,000 square yards of residential plots in the capital region, for every acre of land they surrendered to the authority.
However, even before the plotting was done as per the master plan and residential and commercial plots were allotted to farmers, Naidu lost power to the YSR Congress party headed by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Since the farmers had lost their agriculture lands and were allotted plots, many of the small and marginal farmers who were in dire need of money, tried to pledge their lands in the banks to get loans.
However, banks refused to grant loans against these plots, citing regulations and technical issues, since the Jagan government had abandoned the capital city project.
Moreover, during the earlier Naidu regime, they were allotted plots only on paper, but were not given physical possession of the plots.
The farmers were not aware where exactly their plots were. Meanwhile, dense bushes and trees came in the LPS plots, making them unapproachable to the farmers.
Over the past five years, these farmers, especially small and marginal ones, have faced immense financial hardship due to lack of rental income and harassment from the government. Many were pushed into debt.
Among those who gave up land, 20,490 were small farmers with less than one acre, and 5,000 were marginal farmers with one to two acres. Despite numerous efforts over the past six years, banks consistently denied loans.
Moreover, since the land had been given to the government, the farmers also became ineligible for cooperative loans, worsening their condition.
Even after the new coalition government came to power, the loan troubles persisted. The issue eventually reached the attention of the chief minister, prompting the government to initiate corrective measures.
Now that the bushes were cleared and the farmers were given registration deeds identifying the location of plots, they gained confidence. Moreover, the capital works also resumed in full swing.
The Union Bank of India, designated as the lead bank, has now issued instructions to all its branches in the district to start processing loans on returnable plots.
While banks had already agreed to provide loans during the SLBC (State Level Bankers Committee) meeting in February 2025, they had not acted on it.
After farmers raised the issue during a meeting with Naidu in Undavalli six weeks ago, a sub-committee on July 25 passed a resolution to provide loans on returnable plots. Following this, the lead bank issued fresh directions.
Farmers are now hoping that the bank officials will act as per these orders and extend the much-needed financial support.
