Give clear assurance on paddy procurement in Yasangi season: Shabbir Ali to KCR

Hyderabad: Former minister and ex-Leader of Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir demanded that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao give a clear assurance on procurement of paddy cultivated by Telangana farmers in the Yasangi season. He said that KCR was trying to enact a new drama of protest against the BJP government at the Centre only to deceive the paddy farmers.

Mr. Shabbir Ali was speaking to media persons while participating in the 600-km Sarvodaya Sankalpa Padayatra undertaken by AICC Panchayat Raj Sangathan chairperson Meenakshi Natarajan from Bhoodan Pochampally to Sevagram. He extended a hearty welcome to Meenakshi Natarajan when her padayatra entered Baswapur village in the Kamareddy constituency on Tuesday. He also joined the padayatra.

The former minister said that the previous Congress government had distributed lands to the poor during the regime of Indira Gandhi. However, he said that the lands given to the poor by the Congress governments were being forcibly taken away by the TRS government for distribution among big corporates.

Mr. Shabbir Ali warned the TRS of serious consequences if it mortgages the interest of paddy farmers before the BJP government at the Centre. He said both KCR and PM Modi were deliberately trying to destroy the paddy farmers economically as they had rejected the idea of corporate farming.

He also alleged that the Chief Minister was building the Konda Pochamma reservoir to divert water to his farmhouse in Erravelli.

Glitches in the Dharani portal

The Congress leader said glitches in the Dharani portal have been causing immense hardship to the farmers. He said many farmers, who were unable to buy or sell their lands due to problems in the Dharani portal, have ended their lives. He demanded that their families be paid a compensation of Rs. 25 lakh each. He said special measures should be taken to help the chilli and cotton farmers who are facing problems in getting farm loans, seeds, and other materials.

Mr. Shabbir Ali said that farmers should be given the freedom to decide the crop they wish to cultivate and the Central and state governments should provide them with all facilities. He said that the state government should give an assurance that it would purchase the entire paddy crop. All 7,500 Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) centres should be opened and gunny bags be distributed among the paddy farmers, he demanded.

The Congress leader also demanded that the KCR government fulfill its electoral promise of waiving off farm loans of up to Rs. 1 lakh on an immediate basis. Further, he urged the government to provide free education to the children of farmers who died by suicide. He said all facilities should be provided to the tenant farmers on par with other farmers.

Meanwhile, speaking on the occasion, Meenakshi Natarajan said that her padayatra was not a political event. She said the Sarvodaya Sankalpa Padayatra was started on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Bhoodan movement launched by Vinobha Bhave from Bhoodan Pochampally in Telangana to Sevagram in Maharashtra.

During her padayatra, she said many farmers of Telangana told her of the sufferings caused due to the faulty Dharani portal. She announced that she would launch a fresh movement against the Dharani portal to get justice for the poor farmers.