The Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union on Saturday urged the State Government to take up immediate drought relief measures and provide aid to farmers and farm workers who are struggling to make a living in the wake of the dry spell.
Addressing the media here, BKMU State deputy general secretary R. Venkat Rao said the standing crops in large tracts of land were withering without rain. As a result, the farm workers, due to lack of work, were migrating to cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
BKMU district president Sk. Moulali urged the Centre to earmark ₹2.40 lakh crore for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) and provide 200 days work for work for farm workers. The wages should be hiked to ₹600 per day, he added.
It was high time, the State Government implemented the Koneru Ranga Rao Committee report and distributed over one crore acres of wasteland which is now with the government after conducting a comprehensive survey, they said, adding each of the 41 lakh agricultural workers’ families should be provided with at least 3 cents of land for construction of houses.
