Hyderabad, Jul 30 (IANS): Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday launched the second phase of the farm loan waiver scheme.

Under this phase, crop loans of up to Rs.1.5 lakh will be waived

The Chief Minister launched the second phase at a programme held in the Assembly premises.

Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar adjourned the House for some time to enable legislators to participate in the event.

For the second phase, Rs. 6,198 crores are being deposited in the bank accounts of 6.4 lakh farmers.

The Chief Minister said under the first phase Rs.6,035 crores were deposited in the bank accounts of 11.34 lakh farmers.

In both, the first and second phases the loans of 17.75 lakh farmers have been waived, for this the government spent Rs.12,225 crore.

He said the government proved its commitment by waiving the farm loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh within a month. Farm loans up to Rs 2 lakhs will be waived by August and free the farmers from debt burden.

The government will be spending a total of Rs.31,000 crore on crop loan waiver in three phases. He said no state in independent India has so far waived farmers' loans on such a large scale.

"July and August will be remembered as significant months in the history of Telangana. The Telangana State has created history in the country by waiving the farm loans in a record one month time," he said.

The Chief Minister thanked the legislators for attending the programme irrespective of their party affiliation in the interest of the farmers.

He recalled that the Congress announced the Farmer Declaration on May 6, 2022, in Warangal to bring happiness to the lives of distressed peasants.

The Chief Minister alleged that the previous BRS government failed to waive the farm loans even up to Rs 1 lakh in four phases during the 60-month rule. The last government waived farm loans hardly to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore.

He said some people raised serious doubts about the implementation of farm loan waiver amid the deep financial crisis the state was facing. "Our government prepared plans to waive the loans despite facing fund crunch. We mobilised required funds," he said adding that this shows the Congress government's sincerity and commitment.

He claimed that Congress has always been supporting farmers. He mentioned that former Prime Minister Nehru introduced the Green Revolution with the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalised banks to provide low-interest loans to poor farmers.

Sonia Gandhi introduced the Food Security Act in the country. Congress-led Union governments waived Rs. 72,000 crores of loans in the country, he said.

Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao and other ministers were present.