Kodandaram Holds Deeksha, Urges Farmer Loan Waiver

Telangana Political JAC Chairman M Kodandaram today held a Deeksha and demanded that the State government waive off farmer loans, and warned that no regime had survived while doing injustice to the farming community.

Several Rythu Unions leaders, professors Hari Gopal, Rama Melkote and Nageshwar, former MLC Chukka Ramaiah, HC Justice Chandra Kumar, senior journalists Potturi Venkateshwara Rao, K Ramachandra Murthy and K Srinivas Reddy, former MLAs Gummadi Narsaiah and Janardhan Reddy, and several other leaders and intellectuals attended the Deeksha camp and showed their solidarity with Kodandaram.

Kodandaram observed a one-day "Rythu Deeksha" at Indira Park on Sunday. Speaking on the occasion, he pointed out that Telangana was a largely agriculture based economy, with 60% of its people belonging to the farming community. Businesses would run at full throttle only when the agriculture sector was going strong, the JAC Chairman said.

He demanded that the State government bring the Comprehensive Agriculture Policy, Seed Act and Farmers' Income Security Act, and provide social security to farmers. He also demanded that the government refrain from acquiring lands indiscriminately.

Pointing out that the overall debt of the State's farmers had reached Rs. 93,000 crores, he asked the government to waive off the pending farmer loan dues and also eliminate spurious seeds from the market.

Kodandaram said that he staged the Deeksha only for the sake of the farmers and that he had no political agendas.

In a unique gesture, the State government deployed a huge police force at Kodandaram's Deeksha place for his own protection.