TRS Govt proved to be a curse on farmers: Uttam

Hyderabad, April 28 (INN): Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the TRS Government has proved to be a curse on farmers in the State.

Addressing a meeting at Reddypalli of Narsapur constituency in Medak district on Friday, the TPCC chief strongly condemned the State Government for neglecting the farmers who lost their crops due to various factors. He said that there was no dearth of funds for TRS Government to pay to contractors. However, it did not clear crop loan waiver dues on time citing scarcity of funds as the reasons. By splitting the loan amount into various instalments and delaying the payment, the TRS Government created a situation that entire rural banking system was now in total disarray.

He said that the TRS Government has failed to ensure proper procurement of crops and also failed to provide MSP. He said chilli, Red Gram, Tur dal, turmeric and other farmers were unable to even recover the input cost from the market price that is being offered to them. He demanded that the government immediately set up a Market Intervention Fund of Rs. 1,000 crore to bail out the farmers.

Uttam Kumar Reddy reiterated that if voted to power, Congress Government would waive off crop loans up to Rs. 2 lakh in a single take. He also announced payment of bonus, in addition to MSP, for all crops. Besides clearing the dues of Indiramma Housing scheme, he said that the Congress would add another room for the beneficiaries. He also promised payment of Rs. 3,000 monthly stipend for all jobless youth.

Commenting on TRS public meeting at Warangal, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the event was a total flop show. Disputing the participation of nearly 15 lakh people in the meeting, he said that the TRS leaders were habitual of using inflated figures. "Even if their claims are considered to be true, then the meeting was a failure. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar himself had claimed that the TRS has a membership of over 75 lakh. It means more than 80% of TRS members themselves have skipped the meeting. KCR is now left with only 20% supporters who forcibly participated in the meeting. The rest of the population in Telangana is now against KCR and TRS Government," he said.

The TPCC Chief also announced that the Congress party would object to State's Land Acquisition Act which is coming up amendment in the Assembly on April 30. He said there was no need for a separate State's act when we already have a Central Act which was passed after a detailed discussion in both the houses of Parliament. Demanding that the government should implement only the Land Acquisition Act 2013, he reminded that the Congress party had made representation with the President of India Pranab Mukherjee requesting him to reject the State's land acquisition act. He said that the TRS Government was trying to push a new law only to deny adequate and deserved compensation to farmers and other stake holders.

Earlier, Uttam Kumar Reddy participated in the 10-KM padayatra conducted by former minister Sunitha Lakshma Reddy from Jugalpur to Reddypalli. TPCC Vice-President Ponnam Prabhakar and other senior leaders also participated in the padayatra and addressed the meeting. They visited dried up paddy crops and interacted with the affected farmers.