Oppn rants against govt

SPURT IN FARMER SUICIDES

Cong, TDP and MIM demand immediate steps to ensure that farmers would not take recourse to suicides

Hyderabad: The Opposition members, cutting across party lines, on Tuesday, pummeled the TRS government in the Assembly and Legislative Council for refusing to acknowledge the seriousness of the agrarian crisis gripping the State. They demanded that the government provide immediate succour to the distressed farmers.

Opposition leaders forced the government to set aside the regular business in the Assembly and Council to take up a short discussion on failure of monsoon and measures taken for welfare of farmers. Members including T Jeevan Reddy (Congress), Errabelli Dayakar (Telugu Desam Party) and K Laxman of the Bharatiya Janata Party underscored the need for government to take immediate steps to instil confidence among the struggling farmers, so that they would not take the extreme step of ending their lives.

They demanded the measures that should be taken immediately by the government are the much-talked-about loan waiver at one go, ensure crop insurance was released, give fresh crop loans without deducting interest in the beginning itself or collect interest on pending loans. If fresh crop loans were given, together with quality seed on subsidy, fertilisers and pesticides and promise remunerative prices, farmers would get out of quicksand of debt and there was no need for them to commit suicide.

The leaders urged the government pay Rs 6 lakh ex-gratia to the bereaved families with retrospective effect from June 2 last year. They regretted that Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy while initiating the short discussion on farmers’ issues, said the government was only “proposing” to grant enhanced ex-gratia with effect from the said date. Also, they pointed out that he had only stated that the government would try to consider sympathetically, the demand of loan waiver of the remaining loans at once.

The Minister said the government had taken all steps in providing loan waiver of Rs 8,336 crore and positioning of seeds and fertilisers well in advance, duly placing buffer stocks for the first time, and quality power supply sans interruption. MIM Floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi during his 30-minute speech said the government had failed to instil confidence among the farming community, which was distressed and taking recourse to suicides unable to come out of the debt.

As the MIM leader continued his tirade against the TRS government, IT Minister K T Rama Rao intervened to remind the opposition member that it was not proper to blame the present regime for the farm crisis when the Chief Minister and others in the government were serious about finding a solution to the issue of suicides. Communist Party of India (Marxist) member Sunnam Rajaiah and CPI member Ravindra Kumar said it was time the government came out with specific strategy to help the farmers.

Cong demands House panel

The issue of farmers’ suicides found an echo in the Telangana State Legislative Council on Tuesday. As soon as the debate on farmers’ suicides began, Leader of Opposition Mohammed Ali Shabbir demanded constitution of House Committee to probe into the issue and suggest measures to ease agrarian crisis and ensure that they would not recur.

He said there had been confusion over number of suicides due to agrarian crisis Alleging that Telangana State stood at top in the country in the number of suicides of farmers, Shabbir Ali said the TRS government hit the rock bottom in all other sectors.

Referring to a statement made by Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali in Assembly on November 20 last year, Shabbir said despite having clear statistics on rainfall deficit mandals, the TRS government did not declare drought hit districts. He said neighbouring Andhra Pradesh secured Rs 237 crore for seven drought hit districts.