VIJAYAWADA: Providing a great relief to the farmers who were awaiting payments for the paddy they sold to the State government, Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar released Rs 674 crore to clear the dues on Monday. He was given a warm welcome by the farmers during his visit to Eluru and Amalapuram. The farmers expressed their gratitude to him for clearing the long pending dues.
Of the total amount released on Monday, a lion’s share, Rs 472 crore, was released for the undivided West Godavari farmers, to whom the State government owed bulk of the pending amount. “When our coalition government came to power in the State, like all other sectors, the civil supplies sector too was burdened with heavy debts, which amounted to Rs 40,550 crore. The most shocking among them was paddy procurement dues, which were a staggering Rs 1,674 crore by the government which claimed to be farmer-friendly. Soon after assuming power, the TDP-led NDA government released Rs 1000 crore and today, the balance of Rs 674 crore has been released,” the minister elaborated.
Furthermore, the Minister assured farmers of paddy procurement payments within 48 hours of procurement from the next Kharif season. “The previous government has created a situation to the extent that bankers are not even responding to our calls. However, our efforts paid off and today, we cleared the paddy procurement dues,” he explained.