AP issues GO for farm loan waiver

The scheme will provide relief of up to Rs 1.5 lakh per each deserved family

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has issued a GO numbered 218 for redemption of agricultural crop loans and gold loans availed for agricultural purpose put together, providing a relief of Rs 1.50 lakh each per family.

Accordingly, loans disbursed for crop purposes up to Dec 31, 2013, will be reimbursed even if they were repaid. The GO said the redemption of farmer's debt had been one of the most important policy commitments of the government to provide the much-needed private as well as public investment for productivity enhancement and value addition to the agricultural sector in the State.

It had also taken a dig at the earlier Congress regime, citing the way farmers had suffered as they had been “pauperised over the years by moneylenders, unregulated micro-finance institutions (MFIs) and grossly inadequate investment in agriculture over a decade.”

Further, the GO claimed that its ‘Farmers Debt Redemption’ policy sought to harmonise the expectations and requirements of the farmers, vibrancy of the banking system, and the development demands of the State. For loan redemption of farmers, the government had released Rs 5,000 crores, it added. The GO had also provided the procedure for application and verification at banks on every claim under the scheme which would be displayed online.