Hyderabad, Nov 5: Buoyed by the tremendous response to the dharnas in
protest against the failure of TDP government in keeping up its promise
of waiving loans of farmers and women groups besides miserably failing
to provide succour to the Hudhud Cyclone affected people, YSR Congress
has said that a strong anti-incumbency wave is sweeping across State.
“Farmers, women, weavers, pensioners, students, families of the
cyclone affected families have participated in the State-wide dharna
programmes in large numbers to vent their ire and disappointment against
the TDP Government which did not waive the farm and DWACRA loans while
the cyclone hit north coastal Andhra has been reeling under severe
apathy from the official machinery,” Party senior leader Ummareddy
Venkateswarlu told reporters here on Wednesday.
The response to the call given by our Party President YS Jagan Mohan
Reddy has evoked stupendous response with all sections of the people
actively participating in the protest programme in 663 mandals and
submitting memorandum against the Government anti-people policies, he
said adding that this is only the beginning and more protests are in
store if the State fails to change its mindset.
In normal course it would take some time for the anti-incumbency
factor would set in but for the TDP government, it has come in just five
months as not a single poll promise was implemented. Chandrababu Naidu,
who began his padayatra in 2012 at Anantapuram went on telling people
not to repay the loans and do not pay interest to the banks as his
government would come to power and waive all the agriculture and DWACRA
loans.
People believed and stopped repaying loans and when Chandrababu Naidu
failed to keep up his promise, they have become defaulters and banks
have put their accounts in the list of Non Performing Assets. From zero
percent interest to pavala vaddi, now they are forced to pay 14 %
interest to renew their loans.
The non-implementation of loan waiver has a cascading affect on the
farmers and women groups as they cannot renew the loans unless they
clear the old ones and farmers in the Hudhud Cyclone affected areas are
at sea as they lost the eligibility to claim crop insurance after being
listed as defaulters.
Crops in nearly 7 lakh acres has been totally lost and severely
damaged in an even number of acres. Generally, they would be getting Rs
35,000 as compensation from insurance companies. TDP government has
been dilly-dallying and changing its tune on a daily basis and scaling
down the size by imposing conditions for eligibility for the waiver.
The State has been telling that it will clear loans in five
installments which means the farmers and women groups remain to be
debtors for five years and are not eligible for fresh loans or crops
insurance. The deception of the TDP government has shattered the
personal relations between the farmers, women groups and the bankers.
DWACRA groups in the State had a good name with nearly 90 per cent
recoveries and carved a niche in micro-financing sector which was
shattered by the TDP Government by failing to implement its poll
promise, he said.
The heart-burn of the people has erupted in the form of dharnas at
all mandal headquarters with large number participating in response to
the call given by our Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he said.