Hyderabad: The Congress and the BJP have both promised a crop loan waiver of Rs 2 lakh if they are voted to power in Telangana in the 2019 Assembly elections. This has taken the wind out of the sails of the TRS government’s much vaunted Rythu Bandhu scheme that gifts Rs 8,000 per acre per year to farmers.
The TRS government will spend Rs 12,000 crore every year for Rythu Bandhu which also includes Rs 5 lakh free life insurance for farmers. However, independent surveys ordered by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, as well as intelligence reports on the poll prospects of the TRS indicate that farmers, who form a major chunk of voters in Telangana state, are more influenced by the Rs 2 lakh crop loan waiver than by Rythu Bandhu!
The surveys revealed that about 71 per cent of farmers in Telangana got cheques ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 10,000 each under Rythu Bandhu, but they are not happy with this and prefer the Rs 2 lakh crop loan waiver which will free them from debt at a single go. The survey report came as a shock to the ruling party which strongly believes that Rythu Bandhu would be a game changer in the 2019 polls and help the TRS to retain its power with the support of 58 lakh farmers who received cheques directly from the government.
The farmers who got cheques of over Rs 1 lakh each as they own land in excess of 25 acres, are happy with Rythu Bandhu, but there are only 6,488 of them. The Congress and BJP’s promise to waive Rs 2 lakh crop loan at a single go is very attractive to the majority of farmers who have taken loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh. The Chief Minister and his ministers K.T. Rama Rao, T. Harish Rao and MP K. Kavitha have launched a counter attack on the '2 lakh waiver at all their public meetings.
Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, recently said that waiving crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh “is just not possible. The state’s income from all sources is Rs 10,525 crore. Of this, Rs 2,000 crore is to be spent towards loans, Rs 6,000 crore will have to be spent on employees’ salaries, pensions, Aasara pensions and other subsidies.”
“This leaves just Rs 2,500 crore for spending on the government schemes and other activities for the people. If we have to waive the loans of farmers to a tune of Rs 2 lakh, it requires 20 months and that too if we do not pay salaries to employees. Is it possible? Is it possible to run a government for 20 months without paying salaries to the employees? Under any given circumstances it is not possible. The Congress party is making false promises to the people which it cannot fulfill. This has to be understood by people,” he added.
