Harish terms farmer’s death as murder by govt after he dies of heart attack

A 54-year-old farmer from Siddipet died of a heart attack after allegedly suffering losses when a rice mill deducted 40 bags from his rain-soaked paddy stock. Former minister T Harish Rao blamed the State government and raised concerns over procurement delays

Siddipet: A farmer, who waited at a procurement centre for 45 days to sell his harvest, died of a heart attack after a rice mill management cut 40 bags from his paddy stock after it was taken to the rice mill on Friday.

The farmer, Palleveni Kanakaiah (54) of Narayanraopet mandal headquarters, had brought his harvest to the procurement centre about 45 days ago. As the government process was delayed, his harvest was soaked in the rain recently. Finally, he could sell four tractor-loads of paddy on Friday. However, the rice mill management decided to cut 40 bags of paddy as it had been soaked in rainwater. Worried over the loss, the farmer suffered a massive heart attack and died.

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Former Minister T Harish Rao, who called on the family and participated in the funeral, termed Kanakaiah’s death a murder committed by the State government. Accusing Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of confining himself to air-conditioned rooms and boasting of procuring 80 per cent to 90 per cent of paddy, Rao said that nearly 40 per cent of paddy was still lying at procurement centres while many areas had started receiving monsoon rains. He accused the rice mill management of cutting four to five kg per quintal of paddy purchased, citing various reasons.

Accusing district minister Damodara Rajanarasimha of remaining indifferent to farmers’ issues, he said paddy procurement had not yet commenced at Venkatapur in Alladurg mandal in his own constituency. The former minister alleged that Revanth was ignoring farmers’ issues and resorting to verbal attacks on opposition leaders using abusive language. He accused the government of denying loan waiver, Rythu Bharosa and many other benefits to farmers, pushing the farming community into crisis.