HYDERABAD: Congress’ Kisan cell vice-president M. Kodanda Reddy demanded the government to release the amount earmarked for damaged crops. He asked Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to distribute Rs 10,000 per acre as compensation for the crop loss due to rains and hailstorms.
Speaking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan, he said despite being close to three weeks after the Chief Minister’s aerial survey, less than half of the amount was released.
“It has been 20 days since the Chief Minister conducted an aerial survey of four districts and identified 2.28 lakh acres of crop damage. The real damage could be more than double than this, as per the reports we received,” he said.
Kodanda Reddy felt that the state government despite the Center’s funding for natural disasters was not utilising the funds for the purpose. “The Chief Minister who was assertive of not sending the report on the crop damage was also averse to utilizing the amount of Rs 160 crore meant for relief for natural disasters,” he added.
