TS Rythu Sangham flays Centre for its anti-farmer policies

Musheerabad: The state general secretary of Telangana Rythu Sangham, T Sagar, has said that the central budget failed to fulfill the aspirations of the farmers of the state. He was speaking at a press conference held at the Sangham’s office at RTC X Roads on Wednesday.  Speaking on the occasion, he said that the central government had ignored the promises it made to farmers in the last four-and-a-half years. Farmers had huge expectations on the last budget, but the budget failed to provide solutions to their issues.

Telangana Rythu Sangham will hence organise meetings, seminars and round table conferences across the state to explain the people about the anti-farmer attitude of the central government, he added. The input subsidy of Rs 6,000 to farmers declared in the last budget is not sufficient to address the issues of the farmers, he said. Earlier attempts to address farmer issues through loan waivers were not successful and farmers never got out of the debt trap, he said. 

Nearly 12,600 farmers committed suicides last year and Telangana State stood second in the country, he said. Sagar suggested the central government to enact a law similar to that enforced by the Kerala government, to provide complete waiver to the farmers both from the government and private loans.Sarampalli Malla Reddy said that the agriculture sector in Telangana State is in a great crisis due to the drought conditions.

He criticised Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) for not declaring drought-hit mandals.  He said that the production of food grains and other agricultural products has been going down in the last four years. Although drought prevails in at least 300 mandals of the state, the government has not declared them as drought hit. As a result, the state is deprived of central financial assistance, he alleged. Accusing the state government of being egoistic, he ridiculed the chief minister for conducting yagnas and homams, instead of acknowledging the fact that the drought conditions prevailed in the state. 

He demanded the state government to release input subsidy as soon as the 14th Finance Commission sanctions the funds. Later, Rythu Sangham leaders unveiled the 2019 diary. Among those who participated in the press conference include Nagabanda Prasad Rao, V Sathyanarayan Reddy and others.