Tenant farmers in Andhra Pradesh seek unsecured crop loans of up to ₹2 lakh

Tenant farmers in Andhra Pradesh seek unsecured crop loans of up to ₹2 lakh They say that members of RMGs and JLGs are not receiving crop loans in accordance with the Scale of Finance applicable to various crops.

Key points

• Haribabu and Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham State president V.
• According to They, members of RMGs and JLGs were not receiving crop loans in accordance with the Scale of Finance applicable to various crops.
• According to The association leaders, earlier guidelines had allowed collateral-free crop loans up to ₹1 lakh.

In practice, the Andhra Pradesh Tenant Farmers' Association has pressed the State administration and banks to provide unsecured crop loans of up to ₹2 lakh to the tenant farmers, including members of the Rythu Mitra Groups (RMGs) and Joint Liability Groups (JLGs), particularly those with a good record of repaying bank loans.

Association State secretary M. Haribabu and Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham State president V. Krishnaiah submitted a representation to Agriculture Department Special Chief Secretary B. Rajasekhar, seeking his intervention to ensure that eligible tenant farmers receive crop loans through Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs).

According to They, members of RMGs and JLGs were not receiving crop loans in accordance with the Scale of Finance applicable to various crops. According to They, despite Reserve Bank of India guidelines permitting collateral-free agricultural loans up to ₹2 lakh, the benefit was not being effectively implemented for tenant farmers and group members in Andhra Pradesh.

According to The association leaders, earlier guidelines had allowed collateral-free crop loans up to ₹1 lakh. Nevertheless, with cultivation costs rising, the Scale of Finance for various crops had subsequently been enhanced. According to It additionally, the limit for collateral-free agricultural loans had been rose from ₹1.6 lakh to ₹2 lakh.

Despite these provisions, banks were allegedly creating a number of hurdles in extending crop loans exceeding ₹1 lakh even to groups and individual members who had been regularly repaying their previous loans, they went on.

Taken together, the developments around tenant farmers in Andhra Pradesh seek unsecured crop loans of up to point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.