Govt set to bail out rain-hit cotton farmers

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday assured the members in the House that the government was keen on coming to the rescue of cotton farmers, who were affected badly due to the unexpected rains in the State recently.

Intervening during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Tuesday, the Chief Minister said required steps had been initiated to procure cotton produce at a better price than the minimum support price (MSP). He was confident that the farmers would get better price for their cotton crop this year. He said cotton cultivation was taken up on 48 lakh acres but still only five percent of the crop had reached the markets.

As a matter of fact, in certain places quality cotton was being purchased at higher rate than the minimum support price, he pointed out. Chandrashekar Rao asserted that the State government’s move to set up Farmers Coordination Committees was mainly intended to ensure that the farmers get minimum support price for their produce. The government’s endeavour was to ensure that the farmers would get remunerative prices by forming crop colonies.

He also accused the Congress of resorting to burning crops in some places and alleged that the Congress’ hand was very much there in the destruction of Khammam Market Yard. He said payment of compensation for crop loss was not feasible as it involved heavy expenditure. Later, the Congress members walked out of the House in protest against what they termed ‘the government’s inaction’ in coming to the rescue of the farming community.