CPI (M) former MLA Julakanti Ranga Reddy has urged the Government to pay Rs.5 lakh ex gratia to each bereaved family of farmers, who committed suicide unable to bear the burden of debt.
At a joint press meet on the sidelines of the valedictory of the party’s three-day State conference here on Sunday, he said that even though the farming community had been in dire straits and dozens of farmers were ending their life every day, the Government had kept silent. Neither elected representatives nor bureaucrats are trying to instil a sense of security among farmers, he said.
Though the State has been reeling under severe drought conditions, no alternative measures have been initiated; and farmers, coolies and other oppressed sections are left in the lurch, he said.
The former MLA also said that the Government had failed to control seasonal fever, resulting in public health taking a hit.
The Rythu Sangham all-India vice-president, S. Malla Reddy, appealed to the leaders not to redesign the ongoing irrigation projects as they were in various stages of completion. An amount of Rs.10,000 crore was spent on the Pranahitha-Chevella and other ongoing projects and if their designs are changed at this stage, water for irrigation cannot be given even after another ten years, he said.
Instead of amending the designs and postponing their completion, it would be better to make efforts to complete the projects as early as possible, he said. Rythu Sangham State president D. Chandra Reddy, secretary N. Nageswar Rao and CPI (M) district secretary Dandi Venkat were also present.
Even though dozens of farmers have committed suicide, the government has been silent on the issue, says Julakanti
