TDP demands payment of paddy procurement bills

Machilipatnam(Krishna District): Machilipatnam Parliamentary constituency TDP convener and former MP Konkalla Narayana Rao came down heavily on the State government for not paying paddy procurement bills to farmers even though seven months passed.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, the TDP senior leader narrated the problems being faced by paddy farmers for non-payment of paddy procurement bills by the government. He said a farmers' conference will be held in Machilipatna on June 13 to discuss the issue. Telangana State is depositing the amount into the farmers' accounts within three days of procurement and the Andhra Pradesh government grossly failed to pay the bills even after several months of procurement, he criticised.

The former MP hits out that the government is not providing minimum support price (MSP) to farmers in the State. He pointed out that even after selling their yield, farmers were not receiving the amount and depending on private money lenders to start cultivation. He said the TDP government gave top priority to the modernisation and mechanisation in cultivation. He said many farmers in the State have not registered their crop details in e-crop and suffered losses. Telugu Rythu Machilipatnam parliament convener Gopu Satyanarayana, PV Phani Kumar and Ganesh were present at the press meet.