Farmers are increasingly frustrated with the implementation of the crop loan waiver scheme. After reviewing the initial list, many are angered that their names do not appear despite having loans under the specified amount of Rs. 1 lakh. Furthermore, those whose names do appear are finding that their loans are only partially waived.
Complaint centers and Agricultural Extension Officers (AEOs) set up by the government at the mandal and district levels are inundated with hundreds of grievances from farmers. Many farmers are queuing up at banks to verify whether their loans have been waived, but are met with inadequate information from the authorities.
The issue seems particularly acute with District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs). Reports indicate that less than half of the farmers expecting loan waivers up to Rs.1 lakh have received any relief, and many farmers’ names are missing from the waiver lists.
There are further anomalies with the waiver amounts. Even for farmers whose loans were approved for waiver in the first list, the full loan amounts are not being credited to their accounts. For example, a farmer with a total loan of Rs. 70,000, including principal and interest, should have Rs. 70,000 deposited in their account under the waiver. Instead, only partial amounts, such as Rs. 20,000, are being deposited.
In Bhadradri Kothagudem District’s Chandrugonda Mandal Ganugapadu Society, out of 2,500 farmers needing loan waivers up to Rs. 1 lakh, only 500 received any waiver. Similarly, in Gumpena Society, out of 1,800 farmers, only 300 had their loans waived. A farmer named Tirupati in Janagama had a loan of Rs. 86,000 including interest, but only Rs.13,497 was deposited in his account.
In Ranga Reddy district, around 34,000 farmers took loans under Rs. 1 lakh through DCCBs, but only 11,700 names appeared in the government’s list. The status of the remaining 22,000 farmers remains uncertain.