Hyderabad, Aug 14 : The government of Telangana on Monday waived off farm loans of less than Rs 1 lakh of over 9 lakh farmers.  On the eve of the Independence Day celebrations, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao ordered release of funds for loan waiver, fulfilling the promise made during the elections. The CM said that the farmers who took loans less than Rs 1 lakh will be freed from the debt burden and decided to pay the loan amount up to Rs 99,999 to the banks. The Chief Minister said money will be deposited in the banks immediately on behalf of the farmers. On the instructions of CM KCR, the finance department released Rs 5,809.78 crore in respect of 9,02,843 farmers. The released amount will be deposited in the farmers' bank accounts. After assuming power for a second consecutive time in 2018, CM KCR had made the promise of waiving off farmer loans who took crop loans of less than Rs 1 lakh by December 11, 2018. However, due to the Corona pandemic, lockdown and the consequences of demonetization in the country, the government faced a big difficulty in mobilising the resources. On August 2, CM KCR decided to complete the loan waiver in 45 days. The government paid Rs 1,943.64 crore to the banks in respect of 7,19,488 farmers who took loans up to Rs 50,000. Fresh orders were issued to settle the debt amount up to Rs 99,999. With the latest decision, the government has paid Rs 7,753 crore, benefiting a total of 16,66,899 farmers. State minister and BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao called it yet another boon to Telangana farmers in CM KCR's compassionate governance. He tweeted that the farmer-friendly Telangana government has waived off crop loans under Rs 99,999 amounting to Rs 5,809 crore in a single day. Proud that Telangana is the only Indian state to waive off farm loans twice on such a huge scale, he said. /IANS