BRS Sets Up Study Committee On Farmer Suicides

BRS working president K T Rama Rao today announced the formation of a nine-member study committee to investigate "farmer suicides and the agrarian crisis in the State".

KTR said that the committee, headed by former Agriculture Minister Niranjan Reddy, would conduct a two-week tour across all districts to study the grim situation on the ground over the past year.

He said that the committee would engage directly with small, marginal and tenant farmers to understand their challenges, and submit its findings to the State government, the Agriculture Minister, the Agriculture Commission and BRS president K Chandrashekar Rao.

KTR said that the study committee was established with the intention of fulfilling the party's role as the main Opposition, guiding the State government. He accused the government of lacking direction, and of neglecting the farmers and the agricultural sector, and claimed that the BRS, which he said had worked for a decade with the aim of empowering farmers, was striving to bring the current crisis to the government's attention.

Apart from Niranjan Reddy, the committee includes former ministers Satyavathi Rathod, Jogu Ramanna and Puvvada Ajay; MLCs M C Kotireddy and Yadava Reddy; and former MLAs Bajireddy Govardhan, Rasamayi Balakishan and Anjaiah Yadav.

KTR alleged that farmer suicides had risen sharply during the Congress' one-year tenure, despite the party coming to power after making several promises to farmers. "More than 400 farmers have already committed suicides in the State. The farm loan waiver announced by the government has not exceeded even 30%. The Rythu Bandhu scheme, which farmers have benefited from for several years, has been discontinued. The promise of Rs 15,000 per acre per year to farmers has also been shelved. These significant economic issues have contributed to the rise in farmer suicides," he said.

He added that farmers were facing a severe crisis also due to the government's indifference towards providing free electricity for agriculture and ensuring timely irrigation facilities, and accused the government of implementing "anti-farmer policies that had crippled the State's agricultural sector".