Telangana Congress leaders on Thursday made an emotional appeal to farmers across the State to reject thoughts of committing suicide due to crop failures.
They made the appeal while interacting with farmers of the Domakonda and Biknoor mandals of the Nizamabad district as part of the Congress Bharosa Yatra launched on Thursday to study the conditions of the farmers affected due to deficient rainfall, erratic power supply and other factors.
Congress senior leaders including TPCC President Ponnala Lakshmaiah, CLP leaders K Jana Reddy and D Srinivas, TPCC Working President Uttam Kumar Reddy, TPCC Vice-President Mohammed Ali Shabbir, former minister P Sudarshan Reddy, former MP Suresh Kumar Shetkar and Kisan Cell Chairman M Kodanda Reddy participated in the Bharosa Yatra.
The Congress leaders began their tour from Baspur of the Biknoor mandal and extended financial assistance to Manne Lakshmi, the widow of a farmer Narayan, who committed suicide recently.
Later they visited Peddamallareddy, Sangameshwar and other affected villages of both the mandals.
Besides assuring the people of taking up the issue in the forthcoming session of the Telangana Legislative Assembly and Council, the Congress leaders also promised that they would take the agitation to the streets if the TRS Government failed to extend support to the farmers.
The Telangana Congress leaders demanded that the government implement GO Ms No 421 and extend financial assistance to the farmers who committed suicide; waive off crop loans; declare certain districts as drought-hit; pay compensation to those who failed to get crop insurance; and take immediate steps to ensure adequate power supply.
Ponnala said that the Congress leaders would visit all the affected mandals across Telangana to appeal to the farmers not to lose heart in case of crop failures.
He said that the farmers would not be left to their fates, and that the Congress party would support them at all stages.
He said that the final action plan would be chalked out after accumulating information from all districts of Telangana.
The Congress leaders administered a pledge to farmers that they would not commit suicide whatever be the circumstances. (INN)