Cash Being Credited To Farmers In Three Days: Bhatti Vikramarka

Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka today said that paddy was being procured from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and cash being deposited into their accounts within three days.

Speaking at a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Vikramarka said that that the procurement of paddy was progressing at a brisk pace in Telangana, but that the opposition parties were creating panic among farmers as they were unhappy with the State government crediting cash into the farmers' accounts so quickly.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that he remembered the plights of the farmers and the mounds of soaked and germinating paddy on the roadsides during his padayatra last year as the previous government had failed to purchase paddy, and that thousands of farmers had poured out their woes to him then. His government was determined to ensure that not even a single farmer suffered like that, he said.

He added that even germinated paddy would be purchased by the State government at the MSP.

"There is no need for farmers to get agitated. This is a praja government, and it is our responsibility to see that the people are not suffering," he said.

Referring to the bonus issue, he said that the State government had already started paying a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal for fine varieties of paddy.

"In fact it was former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao who had said that that cultivating paddy was suicidal, and warned farmers not to cultivate paddy," he pointed out.