Amaravathi, Oct 17: The president of the farmers wing of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Mr Marreddy Srinivasa Reddy, on Monday said that the farming community in the State is facing a serious crisis as they, in the first place, unable to cultivate crops and if those who could manage are not in a position to sell their farm products.
The YSRCP leaders and their supporters who are acting as middlemen, are not allowing the farmers to sell their products but the Chief Minister, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, is not taking any action against them. “By releasing false advertisements in the media, Mr Jagan is cheating the farming community,” Mr Srinivasa Reddy, who is the TDP senior leader, observed.
The Rythu Bharosa scheme has been introduced only to release advertisements to help his own media but not to help the farming community, he said. Through these false advertisements, the whole State is being misled and Mr Jagan uttered total falsehood at the Monday’s public meeting that he addressed at Nandyal, Mr Srinivasa Reddy maintained.
The people of the State are well aware that the Minister, Mr Kakani Goverdhan Reddy, always misleads them but Mr Jagan, who is sitting in the Chief Minister’s chair, too shamelessly is utterring lies, the TDP senior leader observed. “The Government has till now released only Rs 14,000 cr for farmers welfare but is claiming that a whooping Rs 1,33,562 cr has been released,” he pointed out.
Stating that Rs 30,000 cr benefits were extended to the farmers in the State during Mr Chandrababu Naidu regime, Mr Srinivasa Reddy demanded Mr Jagan to come out with facts as to how he has paid Rs 6,684 cr as crop insurance to the farming community. The Rythu Bharosa centres have turned into centres killing farmers, he noted.
Did Mr Jagan or Mr Kakani Goverdhan ever visit any of the Rythu Bharosa centres in any part of the State to know the ground reality, he asked. These centres have now become centres to loot the farming community, the TDP farmers wing chief stated.
Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy is well aware of the facts that Mr Kakani Goverdhan and others under the guidance of the Advisor to the Government, Mr Sajjala Ramakrishan Reddy, are taking the farmers for a ride in the name of purchasing the farm products, the TDP leader said. Over Rs 18,000 cr has gone into the pockets of the YSRCP leaders who are involved in the farm products purchase, he said.
Mr Srinivasa Reddy asked why Mr Jagan discontinued the welfare schemes for farmers introduced by Mr Chandrababu Naidu during the TDP regime. Mr Chandrababu accorded top priority for agriculture and thus he had completed majority of the irrigation projects taken up by his government while Mr Jagan could not supply irrigation water even for a single acre, he maintained.
The Chief Minister, who is now interested only to come out of the cases registered against him, has surrendered before the Centre, and is getting ready to fix metres for motors, he said. How many farmers in the State received input subsidy and crop insurance, he asked.
Demanding that the input subsidy and other benefits be extended to all the eligible farmers in the State by the end of October, he said that if the Government fails in it the TDP farmers wing will lay siege all the district collectorates by November.
