AP pressing PM for waiver of interest on farm loans: FM

Hyderabad, Mar 1 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Government is pressing the Centre for waiver of interest on farm loans as part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special package to rescue farmers in distress in the suicide-prone districts in the country, Finance Minister K Rosaiah said today.

Replying to the debate on budget, he informed the House that Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had been writing letters to the Centre to impress upon it the need for waiving off interest on farm loans secured by the farmers to provide relief to them.

''It is not just enough if the outstanding loans of farmers are rescheduled,'' he said, replying to clarifications sought by CPI Floor Leader Ch Venkat Reddy during the debate on budget.

When the Finance Minister compared the allocation made for various sectors in Left-ruled West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, CPI(M) member M A Gafoor took strong objection, saying it was inappropriate to make a comparison. ''You may enlighten your party colleagues in West Bengal so that they can raise it in that state.'' The Congress Government should draw inspiration from the Marxist Government in West Bengal and distribute large tracts of land to the poor, he said. Even Nobel laureate Amartya Sen had lauded the efforts of the party-led Government as a very good programme to create jobs at the grassroots level.

UNI