Farmers ending lives under loan burden: TPCC

Demanding that the Telangana State government transfer the 36 lakh farmers’ accounts into government account and waive off their loans as it wished, TPCC alleged that the farmers were committing suicides failing to bear the loan burden.

Speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan here on Thursday along with former MP Ponnam Prabhakar, chief official spokesperson Dasoju Sravan Kumar and Kamalakar Rao, TPCC working president Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka alleged that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been taking ridiculous decisions to pass the time. “The State is disturbed with the Chief Minister’s ridiculous decisions”, he alleged and said that these decisions will become a huge burden to the people.

Describing the withdrawal of cheap liquor decision by the State government as Congress party’s win, Bhatti said that the Congress party warned the Chief Minister by standing besides people in regard to cheap liquor decision. Speaking on farmers’ suicides, Bhatti said that the conditions in the state were worst in the very first year rule of the TRS government and said that as to what will prevail in the State after five years. He said that the KCR assured the farmers on loan waiver but now he was waiving only 25 percent and the Chief Minister saying that he will waive off the remaining amount in the coming four years. The government has to waive off Rs.17,240 crore of 36 lakh farmers but due to government’s decision of waiving off only 25 percent every year, no farmer was getting new loan. The farmers were taking loans from private persons at huge interest rate.

The farmers have to pay Rs 1.8 lakh in the form of interest after five years if he takes Rs one lakh loan from private person. The 36 lakh farmers have to pay Rs. 31,320 crore as interest after five years. Total burden on farmers after five years would be Rs.65,800crore. “How Bangaru Telangana State would form with these conditions” he wondered and said that the Telangana may become ‘interest paying Telangana’ or ‘suicides Telangana’. He alleged that the Chief Minister has no understanding on issues and the Ministers behaving like puppets. He urged the Chief Minister and Ministers not to trouble the people with bad decisions.

He urged the Chief Minister to sit with the experts and bankers and discuss with them on the loan waiver issue and transfer the 36 lakh farmers’ accounts to government and pay the amount as it wished. “Otherwise, the bankers could follow their rules and deny new loan to the farmers”, he said. The bankers were showing that they gave loan and taken back to avoid NPA trouble, he said. Alleging that the TRS government was trying to redesign the projects with about Rs.80,000 crore, he asked the Chief Minister whether Telangana was the latter’s estate to change the projects designs as it wished. He made it clear that the people and political parties were not ready to bear the burden.

Alleging that there was a huge conspiracy behind changing the design of Pranahitha-Chevella project, Bhatti said that there was no need of Water Grid Project in case the Pranahitha –Chevella project was completed. He said that the Pranahitha-Chevella project will not get national status in case its design was changed. “The Chief Minister was changing the design of the project only for the sake of his son Panchayatraj Minister KT Ramarao’s Water Grid Project”, he alleged. (NSS)