Bharatiya Rashtra Samiti (BRS) working president and former Telangana minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday claimed that the disbursement of the farm loan waiver by announced Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was still incomplete in the state.
In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, KTR said that the amount of disbursement has gone down from Rs 49,000 crore to Rs 17,000 crore.
Notably, the Chief Minister disbursed the last instalment of loan waiver of Rs 2 lakh for farmers, releasing Rs 17,000 crore under the ‘Rythu Nestham’ programme.
However, KTR said that during a state-level bankers committee meeting, which was held in December last year, it was said that Rs 49,000 crore would be required to complete the loan waiver for farmers. KTR also claimed that the state finance ministry and the agriculture ministry were a part of the meeting.
He said that the amount “magically” became Rs 31,000 crore after the Cabinet meeting, but Rs 26,000 crore was allocated for the scheme during the state budget, and Rs 17,000 crore was disbursed by the Chief Minister.
“Yesterday, when the Chief Minister said that 100 per cent loan waiver had been completed, only Rs 17,000 crore has been disbursed,” KTR said.
Notably, during campaigning for the Assembly elections in Telangana last year, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had promised that the party would wave off loans of Rs 2 lakh from farmers, if voted to power.
“Who is Revanth Reddy fooling? Is he trying to fool Rahul Gandhi or the entire farming community of Telangana?” KTR questioned.
“Therefore, we demand that the Chief Minister, who couldn’t fulfil his promise, should definitely tender his resignation,” he added.
Talking about the vandalism of BRS legislator T Harish Rao’s office by Congress workers on Friday, KTR said that it was the state government’s property and that the government was attacking its own properties.
“Civility matters in discourse and in how you deal with your opponents,” he added.
