Revenue Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy on Thursday said the government was mulling on declaring a moratorium on recovery of loans taken from private money lenders to help farmers who were hit by rain and floods four times in one season.

Speaking at the State Level Bankers Committee meeting with special focus on agriculture sector here, Mr. Reddy said while the government was doing its best to bail out farmers through various initiatives, the banks too should do their bit.

He wanted banks to ensure that farmers including tenant ryots get rabi loan by Sankranti and allow opening of accounts by farmers with zero balance to enable them to draw input subsidy. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy said crop loans from nationalised banks was important for farmers as otherwise they will have to depend on private lenders who charged high interest rates and used coercive recovery methods.

Published Date : Friday, 31/12/2010 12:29 PM IST

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