03-02-2008, 04:09 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>20% of Rs 60,000 cr for AP farmers </b>
Pioneer.com
Omer Farooq | Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh is one of the major beneficiaries of the loan waiver scheme announced by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Chief Minister YSR Reddy said that 20 per cent of the Rs 60,000 crore package for farmers will come to the State.
Addressing a gathering of farmers at his camp office in Hyderabad on Saturday, the Chief Minister said of the four crore farmers benefiting from the loan waiver, 55 lakh were in Andhra Pradesh. "The State is a major beneficiary of this step", he said.
Interestingly, before the Budget, Reddy had not supported the idea of debt waiver but wanted the Centre to provide input subsidy to the farmer as it would have benefited a larger number of farmers. But faced with the unexpected waiver, the Chief Minister changed his tone and joined the celebrations.
The Chief Minister was offered sweets by Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy who called him a "farmer" and appreciated his pro-farmer stand.
But Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu claimed the loan waiver to be a partial victory of his United National Progressive Alliance comprising several regional parties. Reacting to the loan waiver for farmers, Naidu said that he was not fully satisfied with it because the UNPA was demanding and campaigning for the loan waiver for all the farmers which could have come to Rs 1,50,000 crore. Anyhow, he said, the Centre was forced to take the decision by the relentless campaign of UNPA which held rallies of farmers all over the country and built pressure.
He said the Rs 60,000 crore waiver package will benefit only a section of farmers and a big chunk of them will be left out. He alleged that the Centre had ignored the fact that 1.5 lakh farmers had committed suicide in the country during the last three years of UPA rule
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Pioneer.com
Omer Farooq | Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh is one of the major beneficiaries of the loan waiver scheme announced by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram. Chief Minister YSR Reddy said that 20 per cent of the Rs 60,000 crore package for farmers will come to the State.
Addressing a gathering of farmers at his camp office in Hyderabad on Saturday, the Chief Minister said of the four crore farmers benefiting from the loan waiver, 55 lakh were in Andhra Pradesh. "The State is a major beneficiary of this step", he said.
Interestingly, before the Budget, Reddy had not supported the idea of debt waiver but wanted the Centre to provide input subsidy to the farmer as it would have benefited a larger number of farmers. But faced with the unexpected waiver, the Chief Minister changed his tone and joined the celebrations.
The Chief Minister was offered sweets by Agriculture Minister N Raghuveera Reddy who called him a "farmer" and appreciated his pro-farmer stand.
But Opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu claimed the loan waiver to be a partial victory of his United National Progressive Alliance comprising several regional parties. Reacting to the loan waiver for farmers, Naidu said that he was not fully satisfied with it because the UNPA was demanding and campaigning for the loan waiver for all the farmers which could have come to Rs 1,50,000 crore. Anyhow, he said, the Centre was forced to take the decision by the relentless campaign of UNPA which held rallies of farmers all over the country and built pressure.
He said the Rs 60,000 crore waiver package will benefit only a section of farmers and a big chunk of them will be left out. He alleged that the Centre had ignored the fact that 1.5 lakh farmers had committed suicide in the country during the last three years of UPA rule
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