*Govt's neglect pushes farmers into severe distress, 7 lakh farmers deprived*

Tadepalli, March 12: YSRCP General Secretary (Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare) MVS Nagireddy strongly condemned the coalition government for its gross negligence and betrayal of farmers under the Annadatha Sukhibhava scheme. Despite Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's election promise of Rs 20,000 annual investment support per farmer, independent of PM Kisan,the scheme has been marred by delays, cuts, and total exclusion of tenant farmers. In its first year, the government completely skipped payments, and even in the second year, as March arrives, the third installment remains unreleased, forcing farmers into acute hardship. Support has already been denied to around 7 lakh farmers, with coverage limited to just 46.86 lakh beneficiaries compared to 53.58 lakh under the previous YSRCP's Rythu Bharosa scheme. While only Rs 4,686 crore has been disbursed in two instalments so far, the previous government delivered Rs 34,288 crore over five years, providing Rs 13,500 annually (enhanced to Rs 67,500 over the term). 

Nagireddy highlighted the irony: even as the Centre announced the 22nd PM Kisan instalment release on March 13, the state has failed to credit its matching share. The agriculture sector faces a deep crisis, with shrinking cultivation areas, no remunerative prices, pending payments for procured crops like red gram, massive losses in maize (Rs 3,500 crore in one rabi season alone), limited procurement for chickpea (only 94,000 tonnes against 9 lakh tonnes produced), scrapping of free crop insurance, unpaid input subsidies, no zero-interest loans, and forced sales to middlemen. Rayalaseema farmers suffer the most due to absent support prices for key crops. Nagireddy criticised the government for destroying agriculture from seeds to sales while spreading misinformation against the prior regime.