Six months after storming into power in Andhra Pradesh, the TDP government headed by Chandrababu Naidu is all at sea over the implementation of the farm loan waiver scheme.
With YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy threatening an agitation on the issue and the state government jittery over facing the opposition party during the assembly session scheduled to commence on December 18, chief minister Naidu has decided to announce a time-table for the implementation of the loan waiver scheme on Thursday .
But sources said the scheme is at present nowhere near implementation stage as the authorities are still to ascertain the eligibility status of nearly 40 lakh of the 83 lakh farmers in the state.
The implementation of the farm loan waiver scheme was the first file signed by Naidu after taking over as CM on June 8.On Tuesday morning, perhaps getting wind of the news that Jagan was planning to launch an agitation on the issue, Naidu convened a meeting of his key ministers to discuss the scheme.
In the meantime, Jagan at a press conference in the city charged that nearly 84 farmers committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh “due to indebtedness and the anti-farmer policies of the TDP government in the past six months.“
The YSR Congress president announced that `dharnas' would be staged in front of the collectorates across the state on Friday against the `failure' of the government in implementing the loan waiver scheme to farmers, women's groups and weavers.
Minutes after the YSR Congress announced its agitation plan, Naidu and his ministers concluded their nearly three hour meeting after which agriculture minister Pratipati Pullarao told the media that the chief minister would on Thursday (a day before the YSRCP agitation) announce the process of implementation of the loan waiver.
“When the initial 20 per cent would be transferred and when the certificates for the balance amount be issued and what should be the action plan for DWCRA groups will be announced by Naidu on Thursday,” Pullarao said.
However, the TDP regime still has a lot of homework to do before implementing the farm loan scheme, the sources said. “This is because the identification of the eligible farmers by the government is still incomplete. Out of 83 lakh accounts of agricultural loans, as on Tuesday, only 43 lakh have been identified as eligible for the loan waiver.
Another 40 lakh accounts are still to be validated as farmers are yet to submit bonafide certificates such as Aadhaar, ration card or any other document. There are still thousands of farmers who are eligible for the waiver, but whose applications are still to be processed. Implementation of the scheme at this juncture can trigger protests from those farmers who do not benefit from the scheme,” they said.
The sources maintained that Naidu’s meeting with his ministers on Tuesday could not take any concrete decision because of lack of clarity on the eligible account holders and meagre funds available with the government. The state government has earmarked Rs 5,000 crore for the loan waiver in the budget to release 20 per cent of the loan amount to the farmers as the cash component.
At the meeting, Naidu is said to have expressed his displeasure at the ministers for not having sorted out the loan waiver issue even six months after its announcement.
“With the meeting making no headway, the chief minister was finally authorized to take a final view on the waiver issue. Naidu then decided to announce a timetable for the implementation of the scheme with the aim of taking the wind out of the sails of Jagan who has announced an agitation,” said government sources.
Source: TimesOfIndia
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