
In Kamareddy district, numerous farmers who had never taken out loans were stunned to receive messages stating their loans had been waived off under crop loan waiver scheme. This perplexing situation has affected hundreds of farmers in the Rama Reddy, Sadashivanagar, Machareddy, and Gandhari mandals.
When these farmers approached their local banks for clarification, bank officials claimed ignorance, stating they had no involvement in the matter. Similarly, inquiries made to the authorities yielded no responses, leaving the farmers in a state of confusion and concern.
The farmers suspect that loans may have been taken out in their names without their knowledge. These suspicions are primarily directed towards the management of the local Gayatri Sugar Factory, with whom the farmers have buyback agreements for sugarcane cultivation. The details of these farmers are in the possession of the factory management, raising concerns that loans may have been sanctioned using these details without the farmers’ consent.
The state government recently sanctioned loans under Rs.1 lakh in the first release, resulting in about 400 farmers across the mentioned mandals receiving messages that their loans had been waived off. Some farmers reported receiving information that loans ranging from Rs. 26,000 to Rs. 90,000 had been waived off. Given that the sugar factory management holds the passbooks and bank account details of the farmers, there are growing suspicions that loans were taken out without the farmers’ knowledge.
Farmers assert that they did not provide any documents to the factory owners for loan purposes and were only involved in signing buyback agreements. The factory provides sugarcane plants, fertilizers, and technical assistance under these agreements, and collects the harvest from the farmers. Despite this, there appears to be no legitimate basis for loans being taken in the farmers’ names. This has led to questions about whether factory employees or the owner might be involved in fraudulent activities.
Despite numerous attempts, no one from the sugar factory management has responded to queries regarding the loans. Factory representatives have not answered phone calls, further fueling suspicions that the bank officials may have colluded with factory owners or employees to facilitate these loans. All sugarcane farmers have accounts in local banks in Kamareddy district, through which payments from the sugar factory are made. The messages regarding the loan waivers, however, originated from the Union Bank of India, Nandewada branch in Nizamabad district headquarters.
The issue came to light when farmers received messages from the government, on behalf of CM Revanth Reddy, announcing the loan waivers. With 400 affected individuals, the total value of the waived loans is reported to be substantial. Former ZPTC of Sadashivnagar, Rajeswara Rao, indicated that if loans between Rs.1 lakh and Rs.2 lakh are cancelled, more such fraudulent loans might be uncovered.