Uttam writes to KCR seeking release of input subsidy to farmers
Hyderabad, January 23: Telangana Pradesh
Congress Committee (TPCC) President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday asked
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to release the input subsidy to
farmers.
In an open letter to the Chief Minister, Uttam
Kumar Reddy reminded following a discussion in the State Legislative
Assembly on December 21, 2016, the Chief Minister himself had assured
that the input subsidy of Rs. 711 crore, given by
the Central Government, would be released "in a day or two". However,
he said that the assurance was yet to be honoured. Therefore, he
demanded that the State Government release the input subsidy on
immediate basis.
"The State Government is yet to release Rs. 711
crores of input subsidy released by the Central Government to compensate
for the damage suffered by farmers due to natural calamities in 2015.
This release is far below the request made by
the Government of Telangana. We feel Government of Telangana has not
done a complete assessment. Thus, this input subsidy is most probably
well below 70% of the damage suffered by the farmers, in the related
period. Subsequently, Telangana farmers have suffered
other damages due to unnatural rains, bad quality seeds and
demonetization to name a few. On the other hand, East of Rangareddy,
South of Nalgonda and North-east Mahbubnagar are facing drought
conditions, with low rainfall and abysmal groundwater levels. Most
probably, some 200 mandals reflect such conditions. They would require
some financial support immediately," Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
The TPCC chief said that from an honest assessment
of Rs. 5,000 crore worth relief requirement, the Central Government has
approved only Rs. 989 crores. "Telangana farmers are yet to receive this
relief. Without such relief, and the damage
caused by September floods, farmers are in deep financial trouble.
Farmers and rural distraught is increasingly becoming exponential
without proper, appropriate and consultative relief procedures and
disbursal," he said.
"Because the relief has been slow, or meager,
farmers indebtedness to banks continues, which precluded access to and
availability of fresh loans. This led to dependence on private loans,
with exorbitantly high interest rates. Since they
could not get institutional loans, they could not get the benefit of
becoming beneficiaries of the reformed crop insurance policy announced
by the Prime Minister. This made them vulnerable to financial losses in
the face of natural disasters," he said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the farmers in
Telangana, across districts, have been facing alternate events of
natural disasters for more than two years. As a result, the damage to
their individual economy and agriculture has to be viewed
cumulatively, and not just from the rainfall pattern in this season. In
the last two kharif seasons, cotton farmers have been facing virulent
attacks from pink bollworm. State government does not have any action
plan to protect farmers, financially or technically.
Loss is on farmers and the cycle of distress adding to distress is
closing on the individual economies, he said.
"This kharif season, farmers who were impacted by
unseasonal rains, dry spells, and financial rough weathers, were caught
in the spiral of distress by fake, or sub-standard seeds. Starting with
lack of germination to low fruit formation,
different farmers faced the wrath of these spurious seeds causing them
immense losses," he said while urging the State Government to take
necessary measures on a war footing basis. (eom)
Uttam slams TRS Govt for neglecting teachers' problems
TPCC President N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has accused the
TRS Government of deliberately neglecting the problems being faced by
the teachers in Telangana State.
Speaking after releasing the diary of Telangana
State Teachers' Federation at Gandhi Bhavan on Monday, Uttam Kumar Reddy
said that the TRS Government has been damaging the entire education
sector in the State by primarily targetting the
teachers. He expressed concern over cut in budget for education sector,
closure of schools in rural areas, non-appointment of both teaching and
non-teaching staff in universities, delay in fee reimbursement of over
14 lakh students and even open violation
of UGC norms. He also slammed the government for not conducting the DSC
and even accused it of closing down many B.Ed colleges.
The TPCC chief said that the Congress party would
extend complete support to teachers and would fight with the State
Government to resolve their problems.
TPCC Working President Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka,
ex-PCC chief Ponnala Lakshmaiah, former minister Sunitha Lakshma Reddy
and other leaders were also present on the occasion.
The Congress leaders also released a music CD
"Tughlaq" produced by E.V.N. Chari on the demonisation of Rs. 1,000 and
Rs. 500 currency notes.
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