Loan waiver in Telangana after election manifesto

On Friday Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy  announced that the Telangana Government would waiver off the crop loans, as promised in the election manifesto, after the end of Model Code of Conduct in the State. The minister was speaking after inaugurating the Seed Mela – 2019 at the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) Auditorium premises in Rajendranagar.

He also promised the State Government would organise Seed Melas in all the District Headquarters from next year onwards to supply quality seeds to the farmers. The PJTSAU in collaboration with Department of Agriculture, Department of Horticulture and local ICAR Research Institutes such as Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR), Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Indian Institute of Oil seed Research (IIOR), Central Research Institute for Dry land Agriculture(CRIDA), ATARI, NAARM, directorate of Poultry, National Seeds Corporation (NSC), Telangana State Seed Development Corporation(TSSDC), Telangana State Seed and Organic Certification Agency (TSSOCA) and Veterinary and Horticultural Universities organised  the Seed Mela.

To recall, the Telangana government has  announced a waiver of all crop loans up to Rs 1 lakh taken by farmers before December 11, when the results of state assembly elections were declared and vaulted the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to power for a second successive term in India’s youngest state.

Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who also holds finance portfolio unveiled the waiver, which he promised in his election campaign, in a vote-on-account he presented in the state assembly.

Rao, popularly known as KCR, said  that “Redeeming our promise, we are proposing to waive all agriculture term loans up to Rs 1 lakh outstanding as on December 11, 2018. An amount of Rs 6,000 crore has been proposed in the budget”

An increase in pensions for senior citizens under the Aasara scheme from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,016 per month was announced by the  chief minister. The age limit for old-age pensions has also been reduced from 65 to 57 years. For differently abled persons, the monthly pension was increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,016. The total outlay proposed towards Aasara pensions was Rs 12,067 crore.