Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday disbursed a compensation of ₹22 crore into the accounts of 34,586 farmers towards crop loss they suffered due to Cyclone Gulab in September.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the government had been providing compensation to the farmers affected by natural disasters within the same season.
“A sum of ₹1,070 crore has so far been disbursed into the accounts of 13.96 lakh farmers towards crop loss in 18 lakh acres,” he said.
The Chief Minister asserted that the welfare of the farmer was important for the welfare of the State, especially to the rural economy, as over 62% of the population was relying on the agriculture sector.
“The government is paying compensation for the crop loss during the same season in a transparent way after a thorough social audit,” he said.
In the last two-and-a-half years, ₹18,777 crore had been disbursed under ‘YSR Rythu Bharosa’; ₹1,674 crore under ‘Sunna Vaddi Panta Runalu’; ₹3,788 crore through ‘YSR Bima’; ₹18,000 crore under nine-hour free power supply scheme; and ₹1,520 crore towards power subsidy for aqua farmers, the Chief Minister said.
Alleging that the TDP government had not paid arrears of ₹960 crore for paddy procurement, ₹9,000 crore for power bills, and ₹384 crore for seed procurement, the Chief Minister said the YSRCP government had cleared all the arrears.
He said that a natural disaster fund of ₹2,000 crore and a price stabilisation fund of ₹3,000 crore had been set up to ensure that farmers did not get into trouble. Further, agricultural advisory committees had been set up at the RBK, mandal, district and State levels to assist the farmer community, he said.
Deputy Chief Minister D. Krishnadas, Agriculture Minister K. Kannababu, Agri Mission Vice-Chairman M.V.S. Nagireddy, Government Adviser (Agriculture) A. Krishnareddy, Agriculture Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, Principal Secretary (Revenue ) V. Usharani, and Agriculture Commissioner H. Arun Kumar were present.
