Farmers protest urea shortage in Karepally, stage rasta roko in Thummala Nageswara Rao’s home district

armers in Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao’s home district staged a rasta roko in Karepally demanding urea supply. Alleging government failure, they said only one bag per farmer was being allotted. Officials later convinced them to withdraw the protest.

Khammam: Farmers in Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao’s home district took to the streets protesting against the shortage of urea.

A large number of farmers, both men and women, staged a rasta-roko at the bus stand centre at Karepally mandal headquarters on Saturday, demanding that the State government ensure adequate supply of urea. The protest led to a traffic jam on the road for a long period and arguments between the police and the protestors.

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The farmers also condemned the Minister’s reported remarks that those who were staging protests were not genuine farmers. The government had failed completely in supplying urea to the farmers, they said, holding the Congress responsible for an unprecedented shortage of urea this season.

They said farmers were facing severe distress due to the lack of urea during crop cultivation. The ministers and public representatives were neglecting the distressed situation of the farmers, they complained, adding that they were visiting the PACS office for the past six days early in the morning and waiting in long queues. However, only one urea bag was being given to each farmer irrespective of the extent of their land holding.

They demanded that the three ministers in the district and the authorities immediately respond and address the crisis. Mandal agriculture officer Battu Ashok Kumar and the local SI Bairu Gopi convinced the farmers to end the protest.