5L insurance cover for 70L Telangana ryots

Karimnagar: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday announced an accident insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for 70 lakh farmers in the state. Speaking at an awareness programme on farmers' coordination committees here, the Chief Minister said his government will also take care of payment of premium. It will cover not only unnatural deaths but also ill-health, he added.

Another concession that KCR announced was that the state government would make the farmers investment incentive scheme applicable to all horticulture crops, including mango. The Chief Minister said if any famer who is well off is desirous of foregoing the Rs 4,000 investment incentive, the amount payable to the farmer would be transferred to the farmers coordination committees. He, however, made it clear that the scheme is not applicable to tenant farmers. The scheme is also applicable to tribal farmers who raise crops in their farm lands, the Chief Minister aid.

He said the main purpose of organising the Regional Farmers’ Coordination Committee (FCC) meetings is to fulfill the needs of farmers. Stating that he may have to lead a national movement for the cause of farmers, the Chief Minister said: "If we work as a team, we can overcome all the hurdles and achieve something."  

KCR said the successive governments and leaders had not bothered about the farming sector and did not work for the welfare of the farmers due to which many farmers had committed suicides. In the united Andhra Pradesh, Telangana had lost many resources and funds. After the formation of separate Telangana, it has started to utilise all the resources available in a judicial manner. 

Training his guns at the Centre, KCR said it had been neglecting the farm sector and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had no guts to take initiatives for the welfare of farmers. If the same situation continues, there is a chance for a national movement against anti-farmer attitude of the Centre, he warned. 

KCR declared that he would lead a national movement for the cause of the farmers by coordinating with other states. The Chief Minister also dwelt at length on the need to linking agriculture with NREGA scheme. He also promised efforts to ensure that the farmers would get MSP in times of distress.