71 per cent of AP farmers to get debt relief in Phase 1 of loan waiver scheme

Hyderabad: As many as 22.79 lakh farmers, constituting 71 per cent of their population in Andhra Pradesh, will be relieved of their debt burden of up to Rs 50,000 each on December 10 under a State Government scheme, an official said on Saturday.

There were a total of 32 lakh agricultural families in the 13 districts of the State as per the 2011 Census, Parakala Prabhakar, Communications Advisor to the AP Government, told a press conference.

"In the first phase of the Debt Redemption Scheme, all the debt up to Rs 50,000 of each farmer will be repaid to the banks (on December 10).

"The verification process is going on with respect to other farmers who have a debt burden of over Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, the upper limit set by the Government.

"Once it is completed, 20 per cent of the aggregate amount will be paid now and the balance in four annual instalments of 20 per cent each," Parakala added.

He, however, declined to divulge the sum the Government would be paying the banks in the first tranche towards debt redemption.

"Whatever be the amount, the Government will pay. We will know the exact figure only after the debt of the last farmer has been repaid," he said.

Coming down on YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy for "misleading people and farmers" on the scheme, the Advisor wondered how he was claiming there were over 80 lakh to 1 crore farmers in the State when the 2011 Census clearly established the number as 32 lakh.

Prabhakar said the scheme was "very scientifically" designed to ensure not a single rupee was misutilised.

"Despite carrying a budgetary deficit of Rs 16,000 crore, the Government has taken a bold step to relieve farmers of their debt burden. But Jagan is misleading people by spreading falsehood about the scheme," he alleged.