TRS govt is farmer-friendly, reiterates Pocharam

Nizamabad: Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said that credit should be given to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao for introducing the method of appointing the chairmen of the agricultural market committees in proportion to the population in the Telangana State.

Speaking to the media after participating in various developmental programmes in the Varni and Rudrur mandals in the Banswada constituency on Thursday, he said that justice would be rendered to all sections of the society if the appointments to the committees were based in proportion to their population.

Minister Pocharam said that the TRS government was releasing huge amounts of funds to the agricultural sector. Inaugurating a godown at that Varni market yard, he said that the during the last 70 years, the capacity of the godowns in the State was only to store 4.5 lakh metric tonnes of food grains but now, the TRS government has released funds worth Rs 1024 crore for the construction of godowns, which have the capacity to store 17.5 lakh tonnes of food grains.

When the prices of the food grains fall, the farmers could store them in these godowns and obtain 75 % of the interest free loan on the basis of the value of the food grains under the Raithu Bandhu scheme, he added.

The Agriculture Minister said that the Chief Minister was working tirelessly for realising the dream of achieving Bangaru Telangana and implemented several social welfare programmes for that purpose. Recalling an incident in the past, he said that one of the Chief Ministers of the undivided State of Andhra Pradesh ridiculed the farmers and made sarcastic comments when they requested him to provide uninterrupted supply of electricity.

But now, the State government was providing power supply uninterruptedly for 24 hours a day, he added. He said that the farmers could cultivate their lands without any worries as there would be no power scarcity in the State for another 50 years. Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said that the TRS government would take steps to construct 220 KV sub-stations at a cost of Rs 70 crore in the Banswada constituency to tide over the crisis of low voltage.

He said that steps would be taken to ensure that not even an acre of land goes dry under the Nizamsagar project. He said that they were working day and night to protect the crop that was sowed on 2.15 lakh acres of land at the ayacut land under the Nizamsagar project. He assured the farmers that crops worth Rs 1,000 crore would be protected. He advised the farmers to save the water and use it economically.

The Agriculture Minister also inspected the land that was distributed to the poor Dalilts at Akbarnagar. The beneficiaries told him that those who had irrigation facilities were sowing paddy crop. The anganwadi workers washed the portrait of Chief Minister KCR with milk for increasing their salaries.

Varni ZPTC Bhaskar Reddy, agricultural marketing committee chairman Naroji Gangaram, local representatives and officials took part.