Bandi demands CM to release paddy payments to farmers

Bandi demands CM to release paddy payments to farmers
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Highlights

The State BJP on Wednesday appealed to the TRS government to immediately release payments due to farmers regarding paddy procured from them during the Yasangi (rabi) season.

Hyderabad: The State BJP on Wednesday appealed to the TRS government to immediately release payments due to farmers regarding paddy procured from them during the Yasangi (rabi) season.

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.

However, in many districts, the government had not made payments to farmers for the paddy procured from them, causing a lot of anxiety. "As the kharif season has commenced, the farmers don't have money to take up cultivation. As a result, they are forced to depend on private money lenders," he reminded.

Bandi said farmers hadn't got the money for the paddy they had produced during the Yasangi season. The government had not yet made payments under the Rythu Bandhu scheme for the kharif season.

"Taking advantage of their situation, private money lenders are charging high interest on the crop loans," he said.

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.

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. He said it was unfortunate that neither the Agriculture Minister nor officials of the department had made any field visits to understand farmers' problems even after the commencement of the kharif season.

He demanded the government to immediately release the money due to farmers for the Yasangi season, besides taking steps to arrange seeds and fertilisers to them at the earliest, so that they could commence operations. Bandi also wanted the district Collectors to hold meetings with all farmers' associations and political parties to discuss farmers' issues and extend them the input cost.

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