State to disburse Rs 52K cr in crop loans, says Kiran

[1]

Claiming that the Congress government is concerned over the welfare of farmers, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday said the government would extend farm loans to the tune of nearly Rs 52,000 crore in the state in the current fiscal year.

The CM made the announ-cement while interacting with tenant farmers at the horticulture university in Venkataramannagudem of West Godavari on the second day of his Indiramma Baata programme here.

He said while farmers in the entire country got crop loans to the tune of only Rs 5.75 crore in a year that saw deficit monsoon rain in several regions, the state government would sanction a whopping Rs 52,000 crore for their benefit.

Claiming credit for extending interest-free crop loan up to Rs 1 lakh to farmers, Mr Reddy said unlike the earlier practice of collecting 12 per cent interest on such loans, they were collecting only 8.5 per cent interest on loans extended. Of this, he said, the government would bear 1.5 per cent, while the farmers were paying the remaining 7 per cent interest to banks.

Referring to the Opposition criticism that the government was doing nothing to help farmers, Mr Reddy said, “It hurts to be blamed thus. In fact, our government could be formed only with the support of farmers and farm labourers.”

Taking a dig at the Telugu Desam, he said, “It is unfair for the TD leader (N. Chandrababu Naidu) to blame us. He did nothing to improve the lot of farmers and Backward Class communities during his nine-year stint, barring developing the Hi-Tech city and Banjara Hills.”

Earlier, inaugurating the administrative block of the university, the CM interacted with students and said the government has incre-ased budgetary allocation for horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries in the current budget. He also promised to fill up 114 posts of horticulture officers soon, with an officer for each mandal in the state.