Hyderabad, Jul 15 (IANS): Telangana government on Monday issued guidelines for waiver of crop loans to the tune of Rs 2 lakh.

A government order was issued on Monday, laying down the eligibility criteria and the modalities to be adopted.

The scheme will apply to the loans approved or renewed on or after December 12, 2018, and the loans which are outstanding as of December 9, 2023.

Every farmer's family will be eligible for a waiver to the tune of Rs 2 lakh. The scheme will cover the entire outstanding principal and interest as of December 9, 2023.

The farmers will be identified for the scheme on the basis of their food security cards or ration cards.

The Commissioner and Director of Agriculture will be the implementation officer for the crop loan waiver scheme.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) in Hyderabad will be the IT partner for this scheme. The Director of Agriculture and NIC will together operate a portal to implement the scheme. The portal will be equipped with features to upload and validate loan account data and to decide the eligibility.

Every bank will have to appoint a bank nodal officer to implement the scheme. He will coordinate among banks, the Director of Agriculture and NIC.

A special cell will be created to address the problems of farmers during the implementation of the scheme. Officials have been directed to resolve the problems within 30 days.

The government had last month decided to waive crop loans by spending Rs 31,000 crore.

The decision to waive the farm loans was taken at the state Cabinet meeting.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had declared that the loans would be waived in one go, unlike the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) which waived loans of up to Rs.1 lakh in four instalments.

Revanth Reddy said while the previous BRS government in its two terms between 2014 and 2023 waived loans of up to Rs 28,000 crore, the Congress government would spend Rs 31,000 crore.

He recalled that the promise was made in the farmers’ declaration unveiled by Rahul Gandhi at Warangal on May 6, 2022.

He said by implementing the promise, the government would send a clear message that agriculture is a festivity and not a loss-making profession.

Revath Reddy said while the previous government in 10 years did not fulfil promises made to farmers, the Congress government was implementing its promises in eight months.