Bandi Sanjay urges KCR to clear paddy payments to farmers

By Our Special Correspondent

BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday demanded the Telangana government immediately release the money due to be paid to farmers who sold their rabi paddy at the procurement centres set up across the State.

In a letter written to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, party president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said the government had taken up purchase of paddy produced during the Yasangi season after a prolonged struggle by the BJP.

He also demanded that the Rythu Bandhu crop incentive amounts be deposited into the accounts of the farmers, as the Kharif season has already begun and farmers were being forced to turn to private moneylenders in the absence of support from the State government.

In the erstwhile combined Karimnagar district, the government had procured 11.2 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from 1,91,852 farmers, through 1,286 procurement centres. The total cost of the paddy was Rs 2,197.16 crore, but the government was still due to pay Rs 517.16 crore to farmers, he pointed out.

Alleging that neither the Agriculture Minister nor agriculture department officials were making any field visits despite commencement of the Kharif season, the BJP MP urged the State government to “wake up” and ensure that seeds and fertilisers were made available to the farmers.

Bandi alleged that because of the 'indecisive' attitude of the government, farmers had not raised paddy in 14 lakh acres across the State during the rabi season. Though the Centre had given clarity on paddy procurement in Telangana, the government had made innocent farmers a scapegoat for its political benefits, he alleged.

Responding to Sanjay’s criticism, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said that the State government had paid `7,464.18 crore of the `9,772.54 crore due to farmers for procurement of 49.92 lakh tonnes of paddy in the Rabi season.