HYDERABAD: In a heart-wrenching incident, a farmer breathed his last due to cardiac arrest while lying on top of a very huge heap of paddy which he had brought to a procurement centre, after a week’s delay in purchase of the crop. Beeraiah, 57, a resident of Ailapur village under Lingampet mandal in Kamareddy district, brought his produce to the Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) centre at Lingampet on October 27. Out of the 207 farmers who had been awaiting their turn, Beeraiah’s token number was 70.
According to sources, back-to-back rains and Diwali holidays had delayed the process of weighing paddy at the procurement centre. As a result, the authorities were able to procure the produce from just 23 farmers before the commencement of Diwali holidays. Due to the delay, farmers such as Beeraiah had been staying at the procurement centre at nights, guarding their produce.
On Thursday night, Beeraiah went home for dinner and returned to the centre to sleep atop the heap of paddy. When he didn’t return home on Friday morning, his wife went to the IKP centre only to find Beeraiah lifeless. Farmers say that Beeraiah was worried due to the inordinate delay in the procurement of paddy. Beeraiah might have suffered a heart attack as he was worried about the future, they added.
‘Process witnessing inordinate delay’
According to farmers, though the government and the authorities concerned have set up a total of 343 procurement centres in the district, the process of paddy procurement was progressing only at a snail’s pace, due to various reasons. Farmers say that Beeraiah was worried due to the delay in the process. He might have suffered a heart attack as he was worried about the future, they said
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