The Congress Legislature Party on Saturday demanded that the Telangana Government convene the Assembly and Council session to discuss the issues pertaining to farmers and the land acquisition process.
Addressing a press conference at CLP office here, Leader of Opposition in Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir, Deputy CLP leaders T. Jeevan Reddy (Assembly) and Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy (Council) accused the TRS Government of completely neglecting the farmers in the State. “Despite the fact that farmers have lost four consecutive crops since 2014, TRS Government has failed to take any measures to ensure that they recover from their losses in ongoing Khariff season. Farmers were not given total relief by waiving off total dues under Rs. 1 lakh crore loan waiver scheme. As against the dues of nearly Rs. 8,500 crore the State Government cleared only Rs. 2020 crore. Consequently, banks are refusing to sanction fresh loans to farmers,” said Shabbir Ali.
Shabbir Ali also accused the State Government of not utilising Rs. 800 crore sanctioned by the Central Government towards drought relief. He said that the farmers were neither given input subsidy nor provided any financial assistance under State or Central Government schemes. He alleged that the TRS Government was deliberately sabotaging the agriculture sector. Therefore, he said Assembly and council session should be convened on immediate basis to discuss the issue.
Further, Shabbir Ali slammed the TRS Government over the land acquisition issue. “GO MS NO. 123 was the worst trick played by TRS Government to cheat framers. It should have simply implemented the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 while acquiring land for different projects. However, GO 123 was issued without making any provisions of Rehabilitation and Re-settlement for affected people,” he said while demanding that TRS Government should discuss the issue in the Assembly. He reiterated that Land Acquisition Act, 2013 was comprehensive and farmers should not be confused with GO 123.
Shabbir Ali said that the farmers across Telangana State were worried over the outcome of ongoing Khariff season. Except for a few parts of Adilabad and Warangal districts, monsoon was not satisfactory in other districts. Therefore, based on the experience of failed crops during the last four seasons, State Government should take measures on war footing basis to help the farmers.
The Congress leader said that the State Government should not avoid convening Assembly sessions. During previous Congress regimes, Assembly session was held for 52 days in a year. However, the duration was just 25 days in 2014-15 while it was only 21 days in 2015-16. This year, the Assembly session was confined to only 17 days. “TRS Government should agree for discussion in Assembly and Council on farmers and land acquisition issues,” he demanded.
Jeevan Reddy and Ponguleti slammed the State Government for its failure to address the problems being faced by farmers. He pointed out specific failures of TRS Government in taking the farming community out of crisis. (NSS)