The much talked about issue - writing off of the loans taken by the weavers, which the state promised has been put in cold storage.
After one year in power, the Rosaiah government began scoring points meticulously to clandestinely jump over the promises made to the poor, particularly in respect of over 25 lakh weavers spread over Telangana districts like Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Medak, and in East Godavari, Krishna and Prakasam districts in Coastal Andhra.
The state government had already assured weavers of waiving off their loans to the tune of over Rs 237 crore.
A GO was also issued for affecting the loan waiver but so far no action had been taken, according to officials who do not want to be named in the Secretariat.
According to information furnished, the poor weavers are still getting the notices from the banks for liquidation of the loans. The recovery process is still effective by the banks and the weavers' plea is like a cry in the wilderness.
According to official sources, the government proposed a one-time waiver of loans to cooperative societies and the individual borrowers under the Prime Minister's Rozgar Yojana and Rajiv Yuva Shakti programmes. The sources said that the government machinery is involved in the waiver process but there is red tapism, which perhaps blocks the implementation of the aforesaid GO.
One official said that the loanees' claims should be verified after identifying them at the district level. That is to say the officials must travel to the villages for door to door meeting with those who availed loans.
Ironically even the district collectors are yet to know the extent of loan waiver, perhaps officially. The Collectors are said to be heads of the district committees, which were expected to conduct the enquiries as regards the identification and claims by the beneficiaries etc.
In the next step the Director and the Commissioner Textiles and Handlooms, in the head quarters would receive the claims and feedback from the Collectorates for further action. Only then will the loan waiver process begins.
When should it happen? It takes time. How long? No response as such. Meanwhile the victims continue to reel under the pressure applied by the banks, whose job and concern it is to affect their own recoveries no matter what is the policy of the government involved as the banks are autonomous in their functioning.