Hyderabad, July 18 (Reporter) Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka has emphasized that the farmer loan waiver funds to be released by the government should be used solely for the benefit of farmers. He urged bankers not to apply these funds to any other debts and not to trouble the farmers. Speaking at the bankers’ meeting held at Praja Bhavan on Thursday, the Deputy Chief Minister announced that the state government will release Rs 31,000 crore by August 15 under the farmer loan waiver scheme. "We are releasing funds worth over Rs 6,000 crores to more than 11 lakh farmers today at 1600 hours," he stated. The funds will be released for the second time this month for outstanding loans of up to Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer. Subsequently, loan waiver funds up to Rs 2 lakhs will be released. Vikramarka instructed the bankers to communicate with farmers who have loans exceeding Rs 2 lakhs to recover the remaining amount from them. "The farmer loan waiver is a historic decision in the history of the country. Waiving Rs 2 lakhs at once through the loan waiver scheme and a total of Rs 31,000 crores is unprecedented in this state," he remarked. Before coming to power, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, as the president of PCC, and I, as the leader of CLP, signed the farmer's loan waiver guarantee card and campaigned on this promise. We are committed to this promise and have implemented the farmer's loan waiver. The state government will deposit Rs 31,000 crores under the farmer loan waiver into the bank accounts of 40 lakh farmers. Recovering such a large amount at once is unprecedented in the history of Indian banking. The corporate banking sector has never recovered such a large amount at once. This decision by the state government is a significant boost for the banking system. Bankers should celebrate this achievement as farmers are celebrating today. "Our state government is planning to introduce many programs in the future for the development of the agriculture sector. Currently, 16.5 per cent of the state's GDP comes from the agriculture sector, and more than 45 per cent of the state's population is dependent on agriculture," he added. Vikramarka urged bankers to deposit the funds received under the farmer loan waiver and immediately grant loans to farmers for their future needs. He stressed the importance of not being careless when it comes to granting loans and encouraged the lead bank to play a significant role. "In the wake of the farmer loan waiver, bank officials should celebrate and spread the word widely," he added...////...