Congress party leaders' padayatras highlight tenant farmers' problems
Adilabad: The ongoing padayatras of state Congress president A. Revanth Reddy and CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka highlighted the tenant farmers' problems in Telangana and explained how they are being denied the various benefits that are given to farmers.
The padayatras also claim to have given some confidence and hope to the farmers in general and tenant farmers in particular about their future.
These leaders interacted with tenant farmers during the padayatras. They promised to recognise tenant farmers as farmers and restore the cultivator column in the patta passbook. This would enable tenant farmers enjoy rights equal to those of farmers, the two leaders explained.
It was pointed out that the BRS government has removed the cultivator column from the patta passbooks, thus making the tenant farmer’s life “more difficult” in Telangana.
The Congress leaders also promised the tenant farmers they would be provided with crop loans on par with the loans given to farmers as also compensation for their damaged crops in situations of natural calamities.
Large numbers of tenant farmers met the Revanth Reddy and Bhatti Virkaramarka during their padayatras and poured out their vows. Congress leaders say the two padayatras mounted pressure on the state government to some extent in relation to tenant farmers' welfare.
During the padayatra, the two leaders noticed that the large number of tenant farmers cultivating agricultural lands taken on lease from landlords faced the real brunt of the natural calamities including crop loss season after seasons since the tenant farmers get no compensation.
The Bhatti padayatra passed through the interior villages and adivasi gudems in assembly constituencies of Boath, Khanapur and Asifabad reserved for STs. There, farmers and tenant farmers on their own approached CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka and requested him to provide them the welfare schemes meant for farmers.
Some of the farmers who lost rights on their lands due to Dharani listings also met Bhatti and sought justice. Tenant farmers were not getting Rythu Bandhu , Rythu Bheema, crop loans from the banks, compensation for crop damage, and crop insurance.
The tragedy is that the lease prices have gone up many abnormally for the agricultural lands after Rythu Bandhu was initiated by the state government. It is found that several tenant farmers resorted to suicide in the face of mounting debts and many are unable to clear the debts they had incurred for farming operations.
Large numbers of adivasi farmers are not getting Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bheem for their podu lands for which they got pattas under ROFR.
Bhatti Vikramarka said chief minister Chandrashekar Rao visited the rain-affected areas to inspect the damages to the standing crops, the other day, due to a fear of a backlash from farmers energized by the Congress party’s struggles on their behalf.
He said that ever since the TRS/BRS came to power in 2014, compensation for crop damage was not paid even once but the chief minister visited the affected areas “with an eye on votes as assembly elections are approaching.”
Bhatti Vikramarka said the Congress party stood with the farmers and tenant farmers and added that tenant farmers will be granted all the benefits on par with the farmers who have agricultural lands once the party comes to power in Telangana.
