Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has demanded the Centre to withdraw cases against farmers and other agitators who had participated in the 13-month long agitation against the three farm laws enacted by Centre and announce an ex-gratia of ₹ 25 lakh to each family which lost its bread earner.
The State government will pay each family ₹ 3 lakh, which entailed a total allocation of ₹ 22.5 crore for the purpose.
A group of ministers and officials will visit New Delhi on Sunday to meet Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution System and other officials to resolve the issue of fixing paddy target for the State. Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy and Civil Supplies Minister G. Kamalakar will form part of the ministers’ delegation and Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar will lead the delegation of officials. Mr. Rao will also be there for two days and try to meet Prime Minister and Jal Shakthi Minister, the latter over the demand to refer allocation of Krishna river to a tribunal.
Disclosing these details at a press conference here on Saturday, the Chief Minister said some 700 farmers had died during the agitation and the fight made by the farming community against the three farming laws was historical.
Procurement quota
“We are asking the Centre to finalise our target. Based on that we will ask farmers to cultivate the crop. There was statement from the Centre, whether official release or leak, that it would discuss about increase in raw rice procurement with State and that it would not buy parboiled rice. Which statement was correct we do not know. We want to finalise the issue with the Centre. If possible we will meet even Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao adding that any advance information would be useful for the farmers. He has suggested the Prime Minister to make farmers Atma Nirbhar stating that no other country in the world can feed farmers if agriculture sector collapsed. He has also demanded that a legislation on minimum support price (MSP) be passed by Parliament to give an assurance to the farming community.
Power reforms Bill
Stating that the Centre has been trying to impose the new Electricity Bill on the States forcibly and asking them to fix meters for agriculture bore-wells, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao demanded that the Bill be withdrawn immediately as the States likes Telangana are extending round-the-clock power to farmers and why it should be discontinued.
“We are asking the Centre to finalise our share in Krishna and Godavari from the day one after formation of Telangana State. Not only that we had even withdrawn case in the Supreme Court. Who is preventing the Centre to refer the issue to the tribunal? Why there was delay and who is responsible for that?” asked Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao warning that any delay would lead to agitations and the TRS would support such agitations.
