Hyderabad: Telangana Congress leaders urged the CM to address farmer issues

Hyderabad: Senior Congress leaders on Saturday have urged the Chief Minister to address various issues of the farmers in view of the lockdown, in the state due to coronavirus spread.

PCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, senior leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy, CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, and Kisan Cell National Vice-Chairman M Kodanda Reddy have jointly addressed a letter stating the above concern to the Chief Minister.

They said that though the government announced that 6,000 procurement centres will be opened for paddy, maize and red gram, only about 2,400 have been opened so far.

Shortage of gunny bags, labour, storage facility, etc, is leading to confusion and delay in procuring the farm product. The government should take steps to make better arrangements for the procurement.

The government announced that procurement of Maize will be done only to the extent of 25 quintals per acre. This would discourage the farmers who have achieved a better yield than the limit.

It has come to the notice that farmers are forced to accept a deduction of 3 to 4 kg per quintal towards chaff etc, in the procurement of paddy. Strict instructions must be given to limit the deduction to 1 kg per quintal.

The cost of sweet lime at this time last year was about Rs 40,000 per ton, but, because of the failure of the state government to make adequate arrangements, the price has come down to about Rs 10,000. The government should see to it that the farmers get better price. Mango is cultivated in about 3.08 lakh acres and it accounts for 68 per cent of fruits produced in the state. Serious planning is required for sale of the mangoes produced. Apart from increasing the wages to Rs 202 per day for the MNREGA workers as a part of the Prime Minister's relief package, the central government has released the arrears due under the scheme. Steps should be taken to pay the arrears immediately.