Hyderabad: Revanth demands relief package for chilli farmers

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President and MP A Revanth Reddy on Thursday expressed serious concern over the rising number of farmer suicides and urged the State government to take immediate measures to bail out the chilli farmers who incurred huge losses due to crop loss.

In an open letter to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the TPCC president pointed out that there has been an alarming rise in farmer suicides across Telangana State in the past three to four months. On average, 5-10 farmers are taking their own lives every day. They are resorting to the extreme step as they incurred heavy losses and accumulated huge debts due to the loss of crops.

"The paddy farmers of Telangana were already facing a pathetic situation and now the suicide by chilli farmers has worsened the agricultural crisis in the State. While the scenes of a farmer lying dead on a pile of his unsold paddy got frozen before my eyes, the images of chilli farmers hanging with their necks have completely disturbed my mind. Unfortunately, your government did not do enough to prevent this kind of situation for both paddy and chilli farmers. I may not be exaggerating if I say that you are acting in the most inhumane manner. You are simply not listening or reacting to the cries of chilli farmers," he alleged.

He said that this year chilli was cultivated on 3,58,557 acres spread across Khammam, Mahabubabad, Kothagudem, Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Nalgonda and Suryapet districts. The farmers invested about Rs 1 lakh per acre and expected good returns. However, their crops were destroyed by Thrips Parvispinous, an invasive insect from Indonesia which was first seen in 2015. Consequently, as against the expected yield of 25-30 quintals per acre, the yield was less than five quintals causing huge losses to the farmers. On average, he said that each chilli farmer has accumulated a debt of Rs 5-10 lakh. The situation of tenant farmers has become even worse. With no means left to recover the losses or to repay the debt, many farmers are resorting to suicide as the last resort. He said most of the farmers who committed suicide were aged around 35 years. These suicides must be prevented immediately by taking measures on a war-footing basis, he demanded.

The TPCC chief alleged that the farmers were not getting any assistance from the State government. Instead of adopting a realistic approach to help the farmers who suffered crop losses and fell into huge debts, the TRS government is presenting a false impression that farmers were witnessing prosperity. A few ministers even claimed that farmers are buying new cars and going for hunting as a pass time. Such false claims and lack of endorsement for the losses were forcing the farmers to lose faith in the authorities and slip into a state of depression with few of them taking their own lives, he alleged.

Revanth said that the Chief Minister has been asking paddy farmers to go for alternate crops. But so far he did nothing to help the crisis-hit chilli farmers. What is the guarantee that farmers will get the required assistance from the government if they go for an alternate crop other than paddy? he asked.

Demands compensation

The TPCC president pointed out that over 40,000 farmers have committed suicide during the seven-and-a-half-year rule of CM KCR. "The majority of farmers did not even receive any compensation.

The situation is so bad that the families of farmers who committed suicide had to approach the court seeking compensation as your government did not extend any assistance to them," he told the Chief Minister.