VIJAYAWADA: Farmers in the State who suffered heavy losses in November last year due to rainfall and flooding, have received much-needed succour in the form of input subsidy. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday credited input subsidy of Rs 542.06 crore directly to farmers’ bank accounts. He also credited Rs 29.51 crore to 1,220 farmer groups under the YSR Farm Mechanisation Scheme.
Addressing the beneficiaries virtually, the CM reiterated that his government is totally committed to the welfare of farmers and growth of agriculture and its allied sectors. He said the government paid Rs 1,612 crore in the last two and half years compensating 19.93 lakh farmers for the crop loss due to the heavy rains and floods.
He stated that his government is paying the input subsidy for the losses occurring within the same season. “Besides paying compensation, under relief measures 1.21 lakh quintals of seeds were given at 80 per cent subsidy to those farmers who suffered losses during Rabi season.”
He slammed the previous government for abandoning the farmers and neglecting them with untimely payments. “The input subsidy of Rs 1,832 crore for 2018 Kharif and Rs 356 crore for Rabi was unpaid, and tenant farmers were also left out from government schemes.”
The Chief Minister stated that the current government is standing by the farmers in all possible ways including the tenant farmers, from seed to sale, and asserted that the crop loss is being estimated in a scientific way through e-cropping at the RBK level, leaving no one out.
Elaborating further, he said Rs 123 crore input subsidy was paid in April 2020 against the crop loss which occurred up to March 2020. Similarly, Rs 278 crore was paid in October against crop loss that occurred between April-October 2020. The compensation for Nivar cyclone of Rs 646 crore was credited into the accounts of 8.35 lakh farmers within a month and for Gulab cyclone a compensation of Rs 22 crore was paid in less than two months.
He said that all pending arrears left by the previous government had been cleared by the YSRC government, including the pending bills of Rs 960 crore for paddy procurement and Rs 383 crore for the seed subsidy.
Further, Jagan said Rs 19,126 crore was credited under YSR Rythu Bharosa, Rs 1,218 crore under zero-interest loans for farmers, and for free power supply Rs 23,000 crore was spent. Another Rs 1,700 crore was spent on strengthening the electricity feeders across the State. Also, the government initiated banking services in RBKs and appointed 9,160 banking correspondents to offer services.
In addition to these, agriculture advisory committees were set up at village level, mandal level, district level and at state level to discuss the farmers’ issues and around 10,750 community hiring centres were set up at an expenditure of Rs 2,134 crore connecting with RBKs to assist farmers with farm needs.
“e-Cropping has brought in transparency and accountability. Now, it is being practiced at RBK level and social-auditing is carried out immediately after registration of farmers. e-Cropping has been made the base for all benefits given to the farmers such as input subsidy, crop insurance,” he explained and added the modernisation of PAC and APCOB will benefit the sector in long run.
Ministers Kurasala Kannababu, Muthamsetti Srinivasa Rao, M Sankaranarayana, AP Agriculture Mission vice chairman MVS Nagireddy, agriculture adviser Ambati Krishnareddy and other senior officials were present.
What CM said
The government has paid Rs 1,612 crore in the last two and half years compensating 19.93 lakh farmers for the crop loss due to the heavy rains and floods
Under relief measures 1.21 lakh quintals of seeds were given at 80 per cent subsidy to those farmers who suffered losses during Rabi
All pending arrears left by the previous government had been cleared by the YSRC government