Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Rythu Sangham seeks waiver on loans

Staff Reporter

Stages dharna in front of the DCCB head office

SIT-IN DHARNA: Farmers and APRS activists participating in the protest.

ANANTAPUR: Farmers led by Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham (APRS) affiliated to the CPI (M) staged a dharna in front of the District Cooperative Central Bank (DCCB) head office here on Thursday, demanding waiver on crop loans pertaining to small and marginal farmers and sanction of input subsidy to the farmers who did not get crop insurance benefit.

Speaking at the protest, State secretary of APRS Y. Visveswar Reddy explained that groundnut crop cultivated in about 20 lakh acres during the last kharif season was a complete failure and the hay of the crop was not even useful for fodder due to excessive rain during the harvesting period. As a result, the burden of debt on the farmers had mounted further.

Nature plays spoilsport

Though the banks had extended improved credit during the last two kharif seasons, the ire of nature had played spoilsport. The administration itself had estimated the crop loss at about Rs. 1,320 crores. As the farmers had been suffering crop failure for the last nine years, their crop loans, at least up to Rs. 15,000, could be written off as recommended by the Farmers' Welfare Commission led by Jayati Ghosh.

Besides, the farmers should be provided relief by rescheduling the repayment of crop loans and they be given two more years' moratorium by converting the crop loans as agriculture term loans, as per the order issued by the Centre in 2004-05 for rescheduling and restructuring the crop loans, he demanded.

As the One Time Settlement scheme offered by the DCCB was not useful to the farmers, necessary changes be made in the scheme so as to enable to farmers to clear their crop loan dues only by paying principal amount, Mr. Visveswar Reddy said.

The APRS leader also demanded necessary amendments to the crop insurance scheme so that the farmer's risk was covering from sowing of seed to sale of the produce. The indemnity of 60 per cent fixed for rain-fed groundnut be relaxed to 80 per cent, as the yield would be poor in most of the years in the district.

Later, the APRS activists and farmers gheraoed Minister for Agriculture and Civil Supplies N. Raghuveera Reddy at the guest house and submitted him with a memorandum. APRS leaders P. Peddi Reddy, M.K. Venkat Reddy, K. Venkatramudu and others led the farmers from different parts of the district.

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Rythu Sangham seeks waiver on loans

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