Nalgonda MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy today accused the TRS government of neglecting lakhs of farmers, who are prone to the vagaries of the weather by not implementing crop insurance schemes in the State.
He asked Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to explain why he was not implementing crop insurance which could save farmers from suffering huge losses.
Addressing a series of meetings in Vepala Singaram, Marrigudem, Karakkayalagudem, Burugadda, Gopalapuram, and Kachavarigudem in the Suryapet district on the day 5 of Rachabanda/Rythu Bharosa Yatra on Wednesday, he so far he covered 40 out of 300 villages proposed to be covered under the Yatra to highlight the Warangal Declaration unveiled by AICC leader Rahul Gandhi on May 6.
Uttam Kumar said Chief Minister KCR did not change his approach towards crop insurance, which is a necessity for lakhs of farmers. He said the financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre under the Rythu Bandhu scheme would be of no use if the farmer loses his entire crop due to rains, floods, drought, pest attack or any other natural disaster.
“The High Court, in September 2021, gave a landmark judgment in the PIL filed by Vissa Kiran Kumar, Kanneganti Ravi and S. Ashalatha of Rythu Swarajya Vedika, by asking the State Govt to pay compensation for severely damaged crops within three months from the date of judgment. While those orders are yet to be fully implemented, the TRS Govt did not learn anything from the observations made by the High Court,” he said, adding that the estimated losses due to heavy rains and floods in September/October 2020 were nearly Rs 7,219 Crore. This shows the magnitude of losses farmers could suffer due to natural disasters.
also read: KCR cheated the farmers: says Uttam Kumar Reddy
The farmers can get some relief if they are covered under crop insurance schemes. But the farmers of Telangana are not getting this benefit since Kharif 2020. He pointed out that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was made voluntary from the Kharif 2020 season onwards. “When this issue was brought before the High Court, the KCR Govt tried to mislead the court by contending that the farmers could have enrolled in the insurance scheme voluntarily. But in reality, the State Govt did not notify either the PMFBY or any other alternative scheme, which meant that the farmer in Telangana had no option of even voluntarily enrolling in any crop insurance scheme,” he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the TRS Govt has almost dismantled the mechanism to enumerate the losses suffered by farmers due to natural calamities and other factors. He said thousands of farmers lost their standing crops or the paddy stocked for disposal in their farmyards due to unseasonal rains in the last one week. Although the Chief Minister gave an assurance through a press release that the government would purchase the wet paddy, he was silent about giving compensation to those who lost their standing crops. He said the District administration has no standing instructions to enumerate the crop losses within a specified period. He said lakhs of tenant farmers were suffering huge losses in almost every season. They are neither getting any assistance under Rythu Bandhu nor are they being covered under any crop insurance scheme.
The Congress MP alleged that KCR was confusing the farmers by creating hype around the Rythu Bima Yojna. He said the Rythu Bima was a group life insurance which is not helpful to a farmer, who is alive although it provides financial relief to his family after he dies due to any reason. He said the TRS Govt could save thousands of lives by introducing a crop insurance scheme. Uttam Kumar Reddy demanded that the CM take immediate measures to introduce 100% crop insurance for the ensuing Kharif season.
The Nalgonda MP claimed that the Warangal Declaration, announced by AICC Leader Rahul Gandhi, would completely remove the stress being faced by farmers under TRS-BJP regimes. “The next Congress Govt will introduce a comprehensive crop insurance policy covering losses due to natural calamities and other factors. Unlike KCR, Congress will not let the farmers to their fate under any circumstance,” he added.
(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data of the text. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)
