The government of Andhra Pradesh will relieve the debt of as many as 22.79 lakh farmers which constitutes 71% of the farmer population of the state. All the debt up to Rs 50,000 of each farmer will be repaid to the banks on December 10 in the first phase of the Debt Redemption Scheme.
The verification process is going on for other farmers who have got a debt burden of over Rs 50,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh. Under a State Government scheme this is the upper limit set by the Government to relief the farmers by paying of their debt. Once the verification is completed, 20% of the aggregate amount will be paid now and the balance in four annual installments of 20% each.
The Government has taken a bold step to relieve farmers of their debt burden despite carrying a budgetary deficit of Rs 16,000 crore. There are a total of 32 lakh agricultural families in the 13 districts of the state as per the 2011 Census.