HYDERABAD: YSR Telangana Party chief YS Sharmila sent a truck loaded with damaged crops to Chief Minsiter KCR to draw his attention towards crop damage in several districts of Telangana.
The recent rains rendered farmers with unprecedented losses and inflicted a major blow to their hopes of a good harvest.
Exhibiting the truck to the media, the YSR Telangana Party chief said, “Today, YSR Telangana Party is sending this load of the damaged crop to KCR so that, at least during the election year, he will wake up from deep sleep and extend appropriate compensation to farmers. The crop loss due to unseasonal rains has been put at around 10 lakh acres, but not even a single official or MLA has visited the farmers and inspected the loss. While they are all busy clicking photographs in the newly built Secretariat that cost Rs 1,600 crores, it is a shame that the farmers had to raise loans at high interest and sell their spouses’ jewellery for crops. This truck bears farmers’ tears.”
She further said that in the past nine years, the cumulative crop loss has been estimated to be more than Rs 14000 crores, but this reckless government has no concept of crop insurance.
“In the past nine years, the cumulative crop loss has been estimated to be more than Rs 14000 crores, but this reckless government has no concept of crop insurance. When there is no crop insurance, at least the government should extend compensation. KCR promises Rs 10000 per acre that is insignificant as the input costs rose unprecedentedly. His promise was to deliver the amount by the time he returned home. Has he not returned home yet,” said YS Sharmila.
“We demand that KCR offer at least Rs 30,000 per acre as compensation. The paddy procurement should begin immediately. The assurance to set up 7500 IKP centres also failed and less than 2500 were set up. We demand that the centres be established on an emergency basis,” she added.
On the occasion, Sharmila hit out at KCR and his ‘raithu bharosa and ab ki baar kisan sarkar catchwords’.
“Is this the bharosa and is this the kisan sarkar? A sarkar that doesn’t give crop insurance, doesn’t extend input subsidies, and fails on every front when it comes to the rescue of farmers?,” she said. (ANI)