Hyderabad, August 28: Following increasing pressure from all the political parties, the State Government has intensified its efforts to address the problems being faced by the farmers across the state, especially in the East Godavari district.
Former Chief Secretary Mohan Kanda who heads a committee which toured the Godavari districts recently, held a meeting with the chief secretary SV Prasad at the State Secretariat here on Saturday and held discussions over the issues related to the ‘Crop Holiday’ declared by the farmers in East Godavari district. According to sources, Mohan Kanda Committee is likely to submit its report on the issue on September 10.
The State Government has made it clear that it wants the much talked Crop Holiday in the Godavari districts to end. The farmers in Godavari districts were resorting to distressed sales of paddy as they were not getting remunerative prices for their produce. As a result, the farmers were forced to announce a crop holiday to register their protest against the government’s inept handling of the situation.
The government then constituted a committee headed by the agricultural expert Mohan Kanda and other top officials asking them to tour the districts and submit a report. The government is likely to make major policy changes based on the report of Mohan Kanda. Meanwhile, the East Godavari district collector has formed committees in 16 mandals mainly to press the paddy farmers not to stop cultivation this season. Official figures suggest that over 30,000 acres in the East Godavari district are under crop holiday. But, according to CIFA secretary general P Chengal Reddy, about 133,000 acres were not being cultivated in East Godavari alone.
Farmers’ representatives have been demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan formula for minimum support price and procurement of their production.
——Agencies