Telugu Desam Party national president and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said that the State government had no moral right to celebrate ‘Rythu Dinotsavam’, but it should instead observe ‘Farmers' Betrayal Day’ for its utter negligence of agriculture and irrigation.
Addressing a video conference with party leaders on Wednesday, Mr. Naidu said that the Rythu Bharosa was not a new programme but just a duplicate for the TDP’s Annadata Sukheebhava. By changing the programme, the ruling party had caused a loss of ₹80,000 to each farmer over five years.
The government was giving just ₹37,500 for each farmer in five years, while the TDP would have given ₹1.20 lakh. Even Rythu Bharosa was denied to over 10 lakh farmers. Only ₹100 crore was spent on Sunnavaddi programme contrary to a budget allocation of ₹1,100 crore for it. False claims were being made on repayment of ₹1,050 crore old arrears under Sunnavaddi, he said.
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was dividing the farmers along community lines in order to mislead them. In the name of caste, over 13 lakh tenant farmers were not given Rythu Bharosa, he alleged. The ruling party was celebrating Rythu Dinotsavam obviously because it has become responsible for suicides of many farmers for sacrificing their lands for Amaravati Capital, he said.
During the TDP rule, 11% growth rate was recorded in agriculture and allied sectors, but the present government brought it down to single-digit. Aquaculture growth came down from 34% to just 5%, MR. Naidu alleged. False claims were made on the ₹3,000 crore market intervention scheme. Massive public funds were misused for huge publicity, he alleged.
Mr. Naidu asked if it was not the utter failure of the Government for spending just 35% of budget allocation made for agriculture. The YSRCP could not spend 65% allocations for farmers while TDP increased 10% budget and spent ₹90,000 crore for agriculture during its five-year rule, he said.
