Focus on farmers, not stars: Hyderabad High Court tells Telangana

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Monday observed that the government has to give importance to the problems being faced by farmers, the food providers to society, rather than focus on sports and entertainment.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar was dealing with a petition filed by Pakala Srihari Rao of Medak district, seeking to direct the Telangana government and the Centre to grant financial assistance of a minimum of '10 lakh to each of the bereaved family members of the farmers who committed suicide.

The bench directed the Centre and the Telangana government to file a comprehensive report within two weeks, explaining the steps that are being taken to handle the problem of farmers’ suicides.

When government counsel, in reply to questions, said that farmers’ problems were being attended to, Justice Sengupta said, “It seems that the government is focusing on one side, by extending financial benefits to sports personalities and celebrities and also spending huge amounts on entertainment. The government has to be pragmatic towards framers.”

The petitioner, Mr Srihari Rao, submitted that there was lack of coordination between the Centre and the state government in providing aid to farmers through a liberal loan policy and also an effective crop insurance policy. 

He said in the absence of a liberal loan policy, most of the farmers were dependent on private money lenders. In case of crop loss, they were unable to repay the lenders due to exorbitant interest rates and were ending their lives.