Hyderabad, May 17: Taking exception to the critisism of opposition parties that the state government was neglecting farmers’ issues, chief minister K Rosaiah said today that they were sparing no effort to reach out to farmers not for political gains but becasue the farming community had reposed its faith in the Congress governments time and again.
The chief minister advised the agriculture minister and other ministers to expose the malicious propaganda from time to time against the government with regard to farmers by the opposition parties. “Only the Congress governments are committed to the prosperity of the farmers,’’ he claimed.
“Farmers’ welfare and prosperity are very high on my agenda. I will make all-out efforts to fulfil the promises of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and ensure that the farmer receives all incentives, support and encouragement to increase the food production.
Agricultural advances as on March 31 this year were Rs 68,658 crore, registering a growth of 169 per cent in the past five years. Lending exceeded targets both for Kharif and Rabi crops,’’ Rosaiah explained.
The chief minister was happy to note that state had successively retained its numero uno position in the disbursement of crop and term loans.
“This year we have planned to disburse a total agricultural credit of Rs 38,000 crore, including Rs 11,500 crore as term loans, as against crop loans of Rs 28,434, in spite of floods and drought,’’ he said.
–Agencies