Centre should waive overdue interest of 16 lakh ryots: CM

Hyderabad, Oct 28 (UNI) Taking up cudgels for debt-ridden farmers, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to include in the special package for farmers of 16 affected districts, waiver of Rs 1662 crore overdue interest, postponed in 2004.

''Unrealistic and technical intrepretation of the eligibility for providing waiver of overdue interest, now being given, would deny benefits to a majority of the farmers who had overdues in the Co-Operative sector in the state for no fault of theirs,'' he said in a letter to Dr Singh, copies of which were sent to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

The letter, which was released to the media, said, ''in-fact, one of the reasons identified for farmers' suicides as per various reports, is the heavy burden of debt on farmers.'' ''It will be unjust to exclude 16 lakh farmers in Andhra Pradesh from the relief package and deny them the benefit of waiver of overdue interest for no fault of theirs,'' the Chief Minister said in the letter.

The interpretation of the eligibility would lead to discrimination against farmers whose loans were merely rescheduled in 2004 and no amount was waived whatsoever, he said, pointing out that the discrimination might attain political overtones.

Political parties and farmers groups might resort to stir, besides raising the issue in Parliament and in respective legislative assemblies. This might become a major issue in view of a large number of districts involved in the state, he added.

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