The Congress government’s crop loan waiver is being riddled with a surge of complaints from farmers who claim they are being denied the waiver despite meeting eligibility criteria. Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao recently disclosed that as of four days ago, 80,000 complaints had been received, but this figure has now surged to one lakh.
These figures represent only the official complaints, with officials estimating that the actual number could be double when including complaints lodged at the field level with Agricultural Extension Officers (AEOs) and other officials. However, these field-level complaints are not reflected in the official count.
Although the loan waiver process has begun, farmers are being left in limbo, constantly visiting AEOs and banks in hopes of resolving their issues. The frustration is palpable as they continue to be denied the waiver and are forced to plead with various officials. The growing number of complaints and the slow resolution process underline the severity of the problem.
Minister Thummala attributed the issues to technical glitches across various banks, affecting 80,000 accounts. He cited several reasons, including incorrect or missing Aadhaar numbers and errors in the dates when loans were sanctioned. The government is tasked with resolving these issues, but so far, only 7,925 accounts have been corrected. This means that while 80,000 accounts face problems, only 8,000 have been resolved in the past month.
This raises concerns about how long it will take to address the remaining 72,000 accounts. Additionally, the government has reversed loan waiver funds deposited in 22,000 accounts, returning the money to government coffers. Also, the BRS Party’s Whatsapp helpline has received around 1.5 lakh complaints on loan waiver, highlighting the gravity of the issue.
Farmers are growing increasingly anxious about when and where their complaints will be addressed. The government has assured that unresolved cases will be taken up by authorities, but specifics on the resolution process remain vague. A senior official clarified that no special arrangements have been made to handle loan waiver complaints, with all issues being resolved at the field level.
This lackadaisical approach has sparked criticism, with doubts being raised about the ability of field-level officials to address the volume of complaints. Farmers are left questioning whether their issues will be resolved, whether they will receive the loan waiver, and whether the system is equipped to handle their grievances.