Hyderabad, May 2 (IANS): Y.S.R. Telangana Party (YSRTP) leader Y. S. Sharmila on Tuesday sent a truck loaded with damaged crops to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to draw his attention towards the losses suffered by farmers in several districts of Telangana due to untimely rains.
She said the recent rains left the farmers with unprecedented losses, and inflicted a major blow to their hopes of a good harvest.
Exhibiting the truck to the media, the YSR Telangana Party chief said that her party is sending this load of damaged crop to KCR so that, at least during the election year, he will wake up from "deep slumber" and extend appropriate compensation to farmers.
Sharmila said that the crop loss due to unseasonal rains has been put at around 10 lakh acres, but not a single official or MLA has visited the farmers and inspected the loss. "While they are all busy clicking photographs in the newly built Secretariat that cost Rs 1600 crore, it is a shame that the farmers had to raise loans at high interests, sell their spouses' jewellery for crops. This truck bears farmers' tears," she said.
YSRTP leader said that in the past nine years, the cumulative crop loss has been estimated to be more than Rs 14,000 crores, but this "reckless" government has no concept of crop insurance. "When there is no crop insurance, at least the government should extend compensation. KCR promised Rs 10,000 per acre, which is insignificant as the input costs rose unprecedentedly," she said.
Sharmila demanded that KCR pay at least Rs 30,000 per acre as compensation. "The paddy procurement should begin immediately. The assurance to set up 7500 IKP centres also failed and less than 2500 were set up. We demand that the centres be established on an emergency basis."
She slammed KCR and his 'Raithu bharosa and ab ki baar kisan sarkar' catchwords. "Is this the bharosa and is this the kisan sarkar? A sarkar that doesn't give crop insurance, doesn't extend input subsidies, and fails on every front when it comes to the rescue of farmers?," she asked.