Khammam: CPM demands govt aid for chilli farmers

Khammam: Demanding a compensation Rs1 lakh per acre for the chilli farmer who lost their crops due to pest attacks in the district, CPM leaders and a number of chilli farmers took out a rally in the town on Monday. A number of leaders of CPM and farmers in various places in the district participated in it, demanding justice for the farmers.

The rally was conducted from the Pavilion Grounds to the Collectorate. The participants displayed damaged chilli plants to show the plight of farmers. Later, the representatives of party and farmers submitted a memorandum to Additional Collector G Madhusudhan and appealed to the government to go to the aid of farmers.

Addressing the meeting, CPM District Secretary Nunna Nageswara Rao demanded that the government immediately extend financial aid to the farmers who suffered huge losses to the pest infestation in the the district. The farmers cultivated chilli in 1.1 lakh acres in the district, he informed.

He appealed to the State and the Central governments to liberally respond to the plea of farmers to offset their losses. He demanded the officials conduct a survey to assess the extent of damage to the crop.

The CPM leader criticised that the TRS government failed to stand by the farmers in distress. He said protests would be intensified if the government did not respond on the issues of the distraught farmers. CPM district secretariat member Ponnam Venkateswara Rao, Yarra Srikanth, Macharla Bharathi, B Sarala, B Veerabhadram, CH Koteswara Rao, Y Vikram, Bonthu Rambabu, M Ramesh, and others participated in the protest programme.