3 ryots ending their lives everyday under Jagan rule
AP stood in 3rd place in country in farmers suicides
889 farmers took their lives in 2020
AMARAVATI: TDP National General Secretary Nara Lokesh on Sunday blamed the Jaganmohan Reddy Government’s policies for the rising suicides of farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
Lokesh deplored that on an average, three farmers were ending their lives everyday in AP due to increasing losses and deepening debts. Farmers’ suicides rose by 34 percent in the past two and half years of the Jagan Reddy rule. AP rose to stand in 3rd place in farmers’ suicides in the entire country as of now as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
In a statement here, Nara Lokesh said that the YSRCP Government was not taking any steps to create confidence in the farmers’ families despite the worsening situation on the agriculture front. Over 889 farmers ended their lives in 2020 after Jaganmohan Reddy became the Chief Minister. Compared to 2018 figures during the Chandrababu rule, farmers’ suicides rose by 34 percent under the Jagan rule.
Lokesh said that as per the NCRB records, AP rose to stand in 2nd place in the entire country in tenant farmers’ suicides. The AP State accounted for 22 percent of the total suicides of tenant farmers in India. This was enough to tell how serious the situation was in the State. The CM was giving huge advertisements in his own family media on ‘sunna vaddi’ schemes. But in practice, the loans under this scheme were reduced to zero.
Nara Lokesh expressed concern that the farmers were getting stuck in deeper debts as they were forced to buy seed and fertiliser in black market. What happened to Jagan Reddy’s promise to create Rs. 3,000 Cr stabilisation fund to ensure good prices for crops? The Chief Minister repeatedly said that his party’s election manifesto was like the Bible, the Quran and the Bhagavadgita for him.
Condemning the Government’s ‘false promises’, Lokesh said that compensation was not given to the farmers during the natural disasters. Food grain was purchased from the farmers but the Government was not paying thousands of crores. No ex gratia was given to the families of the farmers who ended their lives. CM Jagan Reddy and his party leaders did not even try to call on their families to console them.
Lokesh asked whether the ruling YSRCP had a hidden agenda to make Andhra Pradesh a farmers-free State. The CN said goodbye to free power and started fixing meters on the agricultural motors. This was nothing but tightening the noose around the necks of the farmers. Opposition Leader Chandrababu Naidu demanded Rs 25,000 compensation for damaged crops in natural disasters. The Government did not give even Rs. 500 per acre.
Nara Lokesh said that the policies followed by the Government in the past two and half years exposed that Jagan Reddy had no concern for the farmers at all. If Jagan Reddy would not open his eyes, the AP State would see a grave crisis on the agriculture front.
