VIJAYAWADA: Telugu Desam chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu has predicted that the ‘expiry date’ is nearing for the YSRC government.
“The Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government has pushed each farmer into a debt trap of Rs 2.4 lakh. This put the farmers on ventilator,” he said and sought a white paper on the agriculture sector crisis.
Claiming that Jagan Mohan Reddy was responsible for the present crisis in the agriculture sector, Naidu said the state government neglected the farm sector and failed to rescue the farmers even as AP was experiencing a 27 per cent deficit rainfall.
Naidu said the four-year rule of the YSRC pushed the farming sector into a serious crisis. Though the Kharif season started long ago, the state was still experiencing drought, he felt.
Naidu said, ''Till now, there is a deficit of 27 per cent in rainfall in the state. Nellore district recorded the lowest rainfall of 42 per cent, while Chittoor had 36, Kadapa 48, Kurnool 28 and Anantapur 26 per cent. East Godavari recorded 42 while West Godavari recorded 40 per cent less rainfall till now.''
“This situation is really alarming. Some 3,000 farmers resorted to suicide in the past four years. The state is in second position in ‘tenant farmer suicides’ while it stood third in the country in the farmer suicides. Actually, a total of Rs 210 crore ex gratia should be paid to the affected farmers but Jagan Mohan Reddy paid only Rs 47 crore,” he said.
Naidu sought a white paper on the assistance extended to the farmers as also to the agriculture sector in the past four years.
