Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy had a direct confrontation with Minister Jagadish Reddy over the farmers’ issues.
During the meeting on State Government’s new Agriculture Policy in Nalgonda on Sunday evening, Uttam Kumar Reddy asked the Minister to clarify as to when the promised crop loan waiver of Rs. 1 lakh would be implemented. He pointed that the TRS Government took charge for the second term in October 2018 and not a single rupee of crop loans have been waived off till today (May 31,2020).
He said that the government has recently announced that crop loans of Rs. 25,000 would be first waived off. However, he said even this assurance was not yet implemented fully.
Quoting the official figures provided during the meeting, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the implementation of Rythu Bandhu was erratic as nearly 50% farmers did not the investment support for the just concluded Rabi season although the sowing for Kharif season was about to begin.
Further, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the State Government’s claims on procurement of agriculture produce were false. As against the claims being made by the Chief Minister of procuring 1.4 Crore Metric Tonnes of paddy, the officials figures shows that the procurement was of just 55 lakh Metric Tonnes. He alleged that the State Government was indulging in self-praise without actually doing anything for the farmers.
He also alleged that the crop insurance was non-existent in Telangana while TRS Government was boasting about Rythu Beema scheme. He said not a single farmer who suffered damage due to his crops due to unseasonal rains, drought or hailstorm got any compensation so far.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also questioned Jagadish Reddy over his contribution to helping the Sweetlime farmers of the Nalgonda district. He said that the State Government did not help the Sweetlime farmers despite several requests and reminders. (