Groundswell of support for YSRCP dharnas

Buoyed by the tremendous response to the dharnas in protest against the failure of TDP government in keeping up its promise of waiving loans of farmers and women groups besides miserably failing to provide succour to the Hudhud Cyclone affected people, YSR Congress has said that a strong anti-incumbency wave is sweeping across State.

“Farmers, women, weavers, pensioners, students, families of the cyclone affected families have participated in the State-wide dharna programmes in large numbers to vent their ire and disappointment against the TDP Government which did not waive the farm and DWACRA loans while the cyclone hit north coastal Andhra has been reeling under severe apathy from the official machinery,” Party senior leader Ummareddy Venkateswarlu told reporters in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

The response to the call given by our Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has evoked stupendous response with all sections of the people actively participating in the protest programme in 663 mandals and submitting memorandum against the Government anti-people policies, he said adding that this is only the beginning and more protests are in store if the State fails to change its mindset.

In normal course it would take some time for the anti-incumbency factor would set in but for the TDP government, it has come in just five months as not a single poll promise was implemented. Chandrababu Naidu, who began his padayatra in 2012 at Anantapuram went on telling people not to repay the loans and do not pay interest to the banks as his government would come to power and waive all the agriculture and DWACRA loans.

People believed and stopped repaying loans and when Chandrababu Naidu failed to keep up his promise, they have become defaulters and banks have put their accounts in the list of Non Performing Assets. From zero percent interest to pavala vaddi, now they are forced to pay 14 % interest to renew their loans.

The non-implementation of loan waiver has a cascading affect on the farmers and women groups as they cannot renew the loans unless they clear the old ones and farmers in the Hudhud Cyclone affected areas are at sea as they lost the eligibility to claim crop insurance after being listed as defaulters.

Crops in nearly 7 lakh acres has been totally lost and severely damaged in an even number of acres. Generally, they would be getting Rs 35,000 as compensation from insurance companies.  TDP government has been dilly-dallying and changing its tune on a daily basis and scaling down the size by imposing conditions for eligibility for the waiver.

The State has been telling that it will clear loans in five installments which means the farmers and women groups remain to be debtors for five years and are not eligible for fresh loans or crops insurance. The deception of the TDP government has shattered the personal relations between the farmers, women groups and the bankers. DWACRA groups in the State had a good name with nearly 90 per cent recoveries and carved a niche in micro-financing sector which was shattered by the TDP Government by failing to implement its poll promise, he said.

The heart-burn of the people has erupted in the form of dharnas at all mandal headquarters with large number participating in response to the call given by our Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he said.