Why is govt silent when 60 lakh farmers suffering?

Tadepalli, Nov 27:YSRCP Regional Coordinator and former Minister Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao came down heavily on the TDP-led coalition government for abandoning farmers at a time when the Montha cyclone has devastated crops across the state. Addressing the media at the YSR Congress Party central office in Tadepalli, he questioned why neither the Chief Minister nor a single minister has reassured farmers that the government stands with them in this crisis. He demanded to know why the Agriculture Minister has been completely absent, creating doubts about whether the department is functioning at all. Karumuri lashed out at CM Chandrababu Naidu for making insensitive comments such as “eating rice causes sugar,” instead of addressing farmers’ legitimate demand for Minimum Support Price. He reminded that during the YSRCP government, ration shops supplied ragi flour and wheat flour to protect public health, and asked why the coalition government abruptly stopped them.

Karumuri stated that if the government had implemented free crop insurance like during Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s tenure, every farmer affected by the cyclone would have received compensation. Due to the coalition government’s negligence in not doing e-cropping and not paying insurance premiums, nearly 60 lakh farmers have suffered massive losses, while only 19 lakh loan-linked farmers stand to receive any support. He demanded that the government pay farmers the compensation they would have received through insurance, since it was the government’s failure that caused this injustice. He mocked Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan’s remark that “I am not the Chief Minister to give boons,” stating that leaders do not need to be CMs to solve people’s problems, and accused him of running away from responsibility.

Karumuri criticised the fact that while farmers are struggling, TDP coalition MLAs did not visit fields, with some even holidaying abroad during the cyclone. He questioned why Chandrababu, who mocked Jagan’s aerial surveys in the past, himself chose to only fly in a helicopter without stepping into the fields. He said not a single crop review meeting was held in the past 18 months, no MSP intervention was done, and farmers have not received a single rupee in compensation since the coalition came to power. He noted that paddy yields have fallen from 40 bags per acre to barely 20, but enumeration teams are only recording completely fallen crops while refusing to register partially damaged ones.

Recalling YSRCP’s farmer-friendly governance, Karumuri said Jagan’s government paid for crop insurance, provided input subsidy even twice for the same crop when needed, strengthened RBKs, and ensured fair prices for mirchi, tobacco, tomato, banana, paddy, onion, mango, cocoa and other crops. In contrast, the present government dismantled RBKs, brought back middlemen, failed to ensure gunny bags, delayed transport charges from last year, and forced farmers to buy urea at double the price in black market. He warned that the government’s apathy is pushing farmers into deeper distress.

He also criticised the resurgence of illegal animal slaughter in Tanuku under government protection, which YSRCP had previously stopped. On ration supplies, he asked why chana dal distribution was stopped and why ration rice is being diverted on a large scale under the watch of coalition MLAs. He demanded an explanation from Civil Supplies Minister Nara Manohar on why items like ragi flour, wheat flour and dal—supplied during YSRCP rule—were discontinued.

Karumuri concluded that the government alone is responsible for the losses suffered due to its failure to insure crops, and it must compensate all affected farmers immediately. He warned that if the government continues to ignore farmers’ tears, the public’s anger will inevitably fall on the coalition leadership.