Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Monday interacted with the family members of the farmers who allegedly ended their lives, unable to bear the severe losses and mounting debts incurred owing to the heavy rains and cyclone, as part of the ‘Rythu Kosam’ programme being organised by the party in Krishna district.
He demanded that the State government gave a compensation of ₹30,000 per hectare for regular crops and ₹50,000 per hectare for commercial crops.
‘Indifferent government’
“The farmers would not have resorted to the extreme steps, had the State government provided compensation to them in time,” said Mr. Lokesh after paying tributes to the deceased farmers by garlanding their photographs.
He also visited the damaged crop fields at Majeru in Challapalli area. Accusing the State government of being indifferent to the farmers’ woes, Mr. Lokesh said the debt-ridden farmers ending their lives due to losses ‘failed to wake up Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy from slumber’. “More than 766 farmers ended their lives in just 19 months of the YSRCP’s tenure, he said.
At Chintalamada in Avanigadda Assembly constituency, Mr. Lokesh paid homage to the photo of deceased farmer Sambasiva Rao. He consoled the farmer's family members.
“Sambasiva Rao’s family members told me that he had taken five acres of land on lease for cultivation. But, his entire crop was damaged in the rain. The looming debts had his life. They did not receive compensation in time,” said Mr. Lokesh.
“The Agriculture Minister was watching dances when farmers were facing a life and death situation on account of crop losses. More than 50 lakh acres were damaged in the kharif and the farmers suffered a loss of ₹10,000 crore,” he added.
