» Stop Politicising Farmer Suicides: Telangana Congress To TRS
Stop Politicising Farmer Suicides: Congress To TRS
187 farmers had committed suicide since the TRS took over in June, but not a single family had received any assistance from the government, the Congress alleged.
Congress senior leader M Kodanda Reddy on Friday asked Finance Minister Etela Rajender to stop politicising the issue of suicides by the farmers of Telangana.
Speaking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan, Reddy said that at least 187 farmers had committed suicide since the TRS government took over in June this year. However, not a single family had received any assistance from the government.
Admitting that more farmers had committed suicide during the Congress regime, he said that the then Congress governments, both at the Centre and the State, had extended immediate assistance to the affected families.
He said that a GO Ms No 696 was issued in 2006 giving rehabilitation packages to the families. The Centre had also allocated Rs 50 lakh to each of the affected districts.
Kodanda Reddy said that instead of trying to politicise the issue, the TRS government should focus on helping the farmers, at least on humanitarian grounds.
If the government could release Rs 10 crores for the Bathukamma festival, why couldn't it release funds for the farmers' welfare, he asked, adding that the government should release a White Paper on the issue.
He also advised Nizamabad MP and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha to visit the families of those farmers who had committed suicide, on the occasion of the Bathukamma festival. (INN)