The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee on Wednesday claimed that as many as 76 farmers have committed suicide in the 52 days rule of Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
Speaking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan here, TPCC Kisan Cell Chairman M Kodanda Reddy said that the 76 farmers have committed suicide primarily due to the State Government's failure to waive farm loans. He alleged that of 76, a majority of 19 farmers belong to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's native district of Medak.
Kondanda Reddy said that the State Bank of Hyderabad and Syndicate Bank have already served notices to farmers seeking repayment of loans. The banks have warned the farmers of confiscation of their properties for failure to repay the loans. As on December 31, 2013, farmer owed Rs 26,684 crore loans to different banks. The farmers of Telangana took Rs 20,489 crore as agriculture loan, Rs 2,700 crore as gold loan for farming and Rs 2,495 crore were taken from different Cooperative Banks.
The TPCC leader said that the TRS Government took no action to provide relief to the farmers. He requested the Chief Minister to send written directions to the banks asking them not to harass the farmers over repayment of loans. He said that the Khariff season has already begun and the government should not waste any more time in helping the farmers.