T-Congress Asks Governor To Help Farmers

Telangana Congress leaders called on Governor E S L Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday seeking his intervention to help the farmers who were in distress, and to stop rising farmer suicides.

The T-Congress leaders comprising Leader of the Opposition K Jana Reddy and TPCC President Ponnala Lakshamaiah, and legislators D K Aruna, Dr J Geetha Reddy and Mohammed Ali Shabbir, among others, complained to the Governor that more than 250 farmers had committed suicides since the TRS had come to power in June this year.

"On an average, at least three farmers are ending their lives each day, and in the last three days, the number of suicides has gone up by six to seven per day," they said.

Briefing media persons later, Ponnala said that the negligence of the TRS government was solely responsible for the miserable condition of the farmers.

"It is pathetic that neither the Chief Minister nor his cabinet colleagues are willing to even acknowledge the tragic deaths of the farmers or console their families. The government has totally failed in giving any assurance or confidence to the farmers that they would be rescued," he said.

Ponnala said that the Governor's intervention had been sought to waive off the total loans of the farmers immediately; ensure that the banks extended the crop loans without any conditions and complexities; provide uninterrupted power supply for at least 8 hours to the farmers; ensure speedier response to suicides by farmers by implementing GO No 421; extend special fiscal relief measures to the farmers who incurred losses due to drought, deficient rainfall and erratic power supply; and ensure procurement of paddy, cotton maize and other crops with a good MSP.

The TPCC chief said that the Governor had been asked to mediate between the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to resolve the ongoing controversy over power sharing.

He said that the States were both duty-bound to resolve the energy crisis as per the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Act.

He claimed that the Governor had agreed to speak to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao on the issue, and would also inform the Centre about it. (INN)