Former chief minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, comes from a farmer’s family and thus he has a thorough knowledge about the problems being faced by the farming community, said TDP general secretary, Nara Lokesh, on Wednesday.
The local farmers at Krishnapuram in Chittoor Assembly segment met Mr Lokesh during his pada yatra ‘Yuva Galam’. The TDP general secretary said, ‘My grandfather, who encouraged my father in academic and other sectors and thus he has complete knowledge on all issues and he always thinks about the welfare of the farming community.”
Recalling that Chandrababu, as the chief minister, was holding repeated review meetings with then minister for Agriculture, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, he felt that agriculture is now remunerative now.
Chandrababu encourage agriculture and allied sectors on a massive scale but now Chief Minister, Jagan Mohan Reddy, who came to power by making several promises to the farmers, did not fulfil even a single one.
“On the other hand, the Chief Minister is harassing the farmers by installing meters to motor pump-sets following which the farming sector is in deep crisis now,” Lokesh observed. Why the ongoing works of the Handri-Neeva project are not being taken up, he asked and said that the sugarcane farmers are facing a lot of difficulties now.
Farmers never resorted to suicide due to harassment by the government during the Chandrababu regime, Lokesh said and pointed out that Andhra Pradesh is now in the third position in farmers suicides.
“I am assuring you all that whenever the TDP government is formed again all your problems will be resolved on a war-footing basis,” Lokesh told the farmers.
Cold-storage plants will be set up and crop insurance will be revived and the Annadatha Sukhibhava scheme that is withdrawn now too will be reintroduced, Lokesh said. “The basic problem now is that neither the Chief minister nor the Minister for Agriculture has any knowledge about agriculture” he remarked.
” Minister for Agriculture, Kakani Goverdhan Reddy, is summoned by the CBI and he is now in a hurry to appear before this Central agency. Thus, he is unable to focus on the problems of farmers,” Lokesh stated.
The farming is in crisis now as the Government, which is supposed to take the responsibility from providing input subsidy to MSP, has totally forgotten its responsibility,” he remarked.
The TDP will certainly abide by the promises it makes to any section, including farmers, he said and called upon the farming community not to walk into the trap of the Chief Minister again. “The thief again will approach you but do not walk into his trap,” Lokesh said.
