HYDERABAD: As the State government is not implementing any crop insurance scheme, such as the Union government’s Pradahan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the farmers in Telangana are now looking towards the State government to compensate the loss they incurred due to the untimely rains and hailstorms this week. According to a preliminary estimate, the standing crops in over one lakh acres were damaged during the two days of rains.
Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) state general secretary M Raji Reddy, who was in Kotlapur village in Marpalli mandal in Vikarabad district, and interacted the farmers who lost crops like onion, tomato and other horticulture crops in five villages completely, told TNIE that the farmers could not even go in for fresh plantations, as the banks were not coming forward to give crop loans.
He demanded that the State government either implement PMFBY or start its own crop insurance scheme. Lack of any scheme for crops would badly affect the farmers, he said.
State Kisan Congress president S Anvesh Reddy estimated that the crop loss was around Rs 1,300 crore in the State due to untimely rains. He pointed out that the State government never gave compensation to farmers in the last nine years, though the farmers have been suffering from heavy crop loss.
CPM State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram demanded that a compensation of Rs 20,000 per acre should be paid to each acre to all those farmers who lost their standing crops.
PFBY only benefits insurance firms, claims Palla
BRS MLC and Rythu Bandhu Samithi State president Palla Rajeshwar Reddy demanded that the Centre should bring a new crop insurance scheme, as the existing PMFBY was not at all useful for farmers. The PMFBY was useful only for the insurance companies and not for farmers, he said.
He also urged the Centre to send its teams to the State to assess the crop loss. The MLC said that when farmers lost Rs 7,000 crore worth of crops previously, the Centre provided only Rs 250 crore. “The Centre is against Telangana, as farmers in the State are supporting the BRS. That is why the Central government is vindictive towards the TS’ farmers and not helping them,” he alleged.
He said that the district Collectors have already submitted preliminary reports that crops in 1.5 lakh acres belonging to 80,000 farmers were damaged due to untimely rains. “We are preparing cluster-wise reports for all 2,603 clusters,” he said.
Bandi reacts
Stating that the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms have damaged standing crops in five lakh acres in 13 districts, BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Monday demanded that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announce compensation for the farmers for the losses they suffered. In an open letter to the CM, he said that if the State government implemented the PMFBY, farmers would have immediately received the compensation.
“Four years on, your (CM) promise of bringing a scheme to cover crop loss has not been fulfilled. Your negligence has cost the ryots dearly,” he said.
KCR TO VISIT RAIN-AFFECTED DISTRICTS
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will visit the districts affected by hailstorm either on Tuesday or Wednesday. Rao directed the district ministers, Chief Secretary and other agriculture officials to get the details of the damages caused by hailstorm to standing crops and other assets. The CM will examine the reports on Tuesday and take a decision to leave for a visit to the badly affected districts, said an official release issued by the CMO on Monday.