BRS cadres will lay siege to CM’s house if cotton farmers’ issues are not resolved, warns Harish Rao
Harish Rao warns BRS cadres may lay siege to CM Revanth Reddy’s residence if cotton procurement issues are not addressed. He highlighted unpaid paddy bonuses, crop insurance delays, and flood compensation, urging immediate government intervention to support farmers.
Warangal: Former minister T Harish Rao has warned that BRS cadres would lay a siege to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s residence at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad if he failed to address cotton farmers’ issues.
Speaking to the media in Warangal on Tuesday, he demanded the Chief Minister to go to Delhi; meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask him to lift the restrictions on cotton purchases forthwith. Otherwise, the BRS ranks and farmers would dump loads of cotton in front of the Chief Minister’s residence, he cautioned.
The previous KCR government had implemented Rythu Bandhu for the first time in the country to support the farmers, but the BJP government at the Centre was causing injustice to the farming community by lifting import duties on cotton and palm oil imports. The Centre maintains double standards with separate policies for wheat grown in north India and cotton grown in south India, he noted.
Harish Rao who interacted with farmers at the market explained that farmers Venkateshwarlu and Lakshmaiah of Chintakunta and Mangapet mandals in Mulugu constituency came to Enumamula market to sell maize. They were forced to sell maize for Rs 1800 per quintal, while the support price was Rs 2400 and thus they lost Rs 570 per quintal.
When Markfed officials were asked if the State government had released any funds for maize farmers, they replied that the government had not released a single rupee to maize farmers, the former minister revealed.
The BRS party demands the government to release the bonus dues worth Rs 1,100 crore to paddy farmers for the last Yasangi season. The government should also release Rs 1,400 crore towards paddy bonus for the current year.
The Congress party, which promised to implement crop insurance, has failed to provide crop insurance to farmers even for two years. If crop insurance was implemented the farmers could have received compensation for the crop damage, Harish Rao said.
Referring to damage caused by recent floods in Warangal, he said that around 20,000 houses were submerged in the floods. The government promised to pay a compensation of Rs 15,000 for each house, but even after two months not a single rupee was paid. The government should immediately release compensation to the damaged houses, he demanded.
