Suryapet: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has urged the State Government to take measures on war footing to provide required cash and other facilities to farmers for Kharif 2017.
Addressing a massive public meeting Garidepally Praja Garjana in his Huzurnagar Assembly constituency in Suryapet district on Sunday evening, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the farming activities in the ongoing Kharif season were badly hit due to severe cash and credit crunch in rural areas.
Quoting the latest report of Agriculture Department released on July 5, he said in this kharif season, sowing of seeds has only reached 18.81 lakh hectares out of 43.24 lakh hectares so far. Describing the situation as alarming, he said that the farmers were unable to reap the benefits of a good monsoon due to the negligence of TRS Government.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the State Level Bankers’ Committee, in its meeting held on July 7, has admitted that so far an amount of Rs. 4,700/- Crores has been disbursed to only 7.65 Lakh farmers. This is much less than the actual amount needed by Telangana farmers.
He reminded that the Congress party has made representations to both Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and SLBC demanding them to provide required financial assistance to the farmers of Telangana. However, he said that the farmers were not getting timely help from any quarter.
He said neither Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao nor Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy understood the gravity of the situation. He said ideally the Chief Minister should have convened a special meeting with the SLBC to bail out the farmers.
Further, he said that the Chief Minister himself should have spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to resolve the problem of cash crunch.
The TPCC Chief said a majority of farmers were being denied fresh loans due to the non-clearance of fourth instalment of crop loan waiver scheme by the TRS Government.
He said despite making claims of waiving off crop loans, the State Government was yet to clear the fourth instalment for majority of farmers. He said banks should be directed to issue fresh loans to farmers by keeping the issue of pending loans in abeyance till Kharif season is over.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also criticised the Central Government for turning a blind eye to the grievances and concerns of Telangana farmers. He said Telangana farmers have been losing crop after crop due to the indifferent attitude of both Central and State Governments.
He blamed the BJP Government at the Centre and TRS Government in the State for over 3,000 farmers’ suicides during the last three years. He said that the Central Government should provide required cash in rural banks on immediate basis to ensure that sowing is not affected in ongoing Kharif season. He said that the Centre should also ensure that all farmers get insurance cover for their crops.
He said that the insurance penetration was around 18% in terms of area covered during Kharif 2016. The coverage should be cent per cent in this Kharif season, he demanded.
The TPCC Chief also slammed the TRS Government for its anti-farmer policies. He reiterated that the Congress party, if voted to power in 2019, would waive off crop loans up to Rs. 2 lakh in a single take. He said that Market Intervention Fund would be introduced to provide remunerative prices to farmers for their produce.
Earlier, Uttam Kumar Reddy inaugurated the godown of a cooperative society. After the Garidepally Praja Garjana meeting, a massive rally was also taken out by the Congress party. (INN)