HYDERABAD: BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday demanded the Telangana government immediately release the money due to be paid to farmers who sold their rabi paddy at the procurement centres set up across the State.
He also demanded that the Rythu Bandhu crop incentive amounts be deposited into the accounts of the farmers, as the Kharif season has already begun and farmers were being forced to turn to private moneylenders in the absence of support from the State government.
In an open letter to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Sanjay pointed out that in Karimnagar district alone, of the `2,197.6 crore due to 1,91,852 farmers who sold 11.2 lakh tonne of paddy, `517.16 crore was yet to be paid.
Alleging that neither the Agriculture Minister nor agriculture department officials were making any field visits despite commencement of the Kharif season, the BJP MP urged the State government to “wake up” and ensure that seeds and fertilisers were made available to the farmers.
Responding to Sanjay’s criticism, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said that the State government had paid `7,464.18 crore of the `9,772.54 crore due to farmers for procurement of 49.92 lakh tonnes of paddy in the Rabi season. Assuring that the process of releasing the remaining amount was in progress, he said that the State government was not in need of advice from people like Sanjay.