Alleging that the State government failed to provide enough procurement centres and farmers were denied the support price on one pretext or the other Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar sat on a day-long fast at the State BJP office on Friday.
Mr. Sanjay said the fast was to draw the attention of the government to the problems being faced at the ground-level though the government has been making tall claims. Situation at the farmer-level was pretty bad, he claimed. Facilities at the IKP centres were poor and also at the paddy procurement centres set up by the State.
He recalled how some farmers in Sircilla burnt their produce reflects the agony of the farmers but the State government was ignoring the basic issues and were threatening the farmers with police cases. He said BJP’s observations were based on the party leaders’ visits to procurement centres in all the districts for two days. “We are highlighting the issues raised by the farmers with us,” he said.
Mr. Sanjay alleged that the government was not even speaking about the crop losses due to unseasonal rains and the Cabinet did not even discuss the crucial issue. He also alleged that middlemen were being encouraged with the active support of the TRS party leaders and the officials and the Chief Minister was mum on it. Later, he held a tele-conference with some farmers where they explained the shortcomings of the government’s efforts at the ground level.
