Govt. indifferent to plight of farmers: Kotla

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, DEC. 16. The former Chief Minister, Mr. Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy, has held the State Government squarely responsible for the current plight of farmers in the State.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Mr. Reddy said lack of foresight on the part of the State Government led to the ``unprecedented crisis'' faced by the farmers, following the crash in the prices of all agricultural products including rice.

The senior Congress leader said the Chief Minister, Mr.N. Chandrababu Naidu, failed to exert enough pressure on the Centre to intervene in the market in time and save the farmers from distress sales.

He questioned the propriety of the TDP in continuing its support to the NDA Government, ``when Mr. Naidu could not secure a better deal for the farmers.'' On the contrary, the Punjab and Haryana Governments acted decisively in time and averted the crisis in their own States.

He said the problems of the farm sector had aggravated in the past five years with power shortages hitting farmers of upland areas and unremunerative prices in other areas. The current distress sales of paddy, maize, cotton, chilli, groundnut and other products virtually broke the back of farmers.

Mr. Reddy said that under the TDP dispensation, the State achieved a dubious distinction with ``a record number of 500 suicide deaths '' of cotton farmers. groundnut farmers continued to commit suicide in Anantapur. These deaths were unparalleled but the Government was unmoved.

The CWC member said the Government failed in ``crisis management'' and did precious little on the advance action to avert problems, which recurred every year. The Chief Minister, who is acclaimed as the author of ``Vision 2020,'' had no proper appreciation of the ground realities.

Mr. Reddy said it was ridiculous on the part of Mr. Naidu to claim that FCI officials were not honouring the commitments made by the Union Food Minister, Mr. Shanta Kumar. The NDA Government was dependant on the support of the TDP. In the interests of farmers, the TDP, if necessary, should threaten withdrawal of support. Dharnas of the kind staged by TDP MPs in front of Parliament did not solve the problem.

The former Chief Minister said the earlier Congress Governments had never abdicated their responsibilities towards farmers as done by the present Government. He recalled the ``major market interventions'' of the Government headed by him to help tobacco, cotton and chilli farmers.

He said the visit of Union Food Minister to the State did not help improve the situation. The State Civil Supplies Minister warned of action against the millers not paying the MSP to farmers but not one erring miller had been prosecuted till now.

The State Government was not equipped to lift the seven lakh tonnes of paddy while the FCI was dragging its feet on the commitment to procure three lakh tonnes of paddy. Farmers in Krishna district symbolically dumped paddy bags in the river, which indicated the worse things in store, he said.

Mr. Reddy said the ruling coalition partners sought to blame the Congress for the present crisis in the agricultural sector by referring to the WTO agreement signed by the Congress Government. China, too, signed the WTO agreement but safeguarded the interests of its farmers.

He called upon the State Congress leadership, especially, the APCC president, Mr.M. Satyanarayana Rao, to launch a movement to save farmers. (The APCC convened a meeting on December 18 to decide on the course of agitation). The party should take up the agitation to highlight the crisis on the agricultural front, he said adding that he would also actively participate in the stir.

The Congress leader referred to the threats held out by other NDA partners to secure a better deal from the Centre to their respective States and wondered why was the TDP hestitating to fight for the cause of the farmers. He said the TDP was not prepared to adopt a tough line though the BJP had begun to unveil its ``hidden agenda.''

The former Chief Minister declined to comment on the controversy within the Congress over withdrawal of certain cases in the High Court by the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP).

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Section  : Southern States
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