Rubbishing the letter of TDP national President Nara Chandrababu Naidu over pending arrears to farmers, Adviser (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said it was filled with false allegations against the State government.
He told reporters here on Thursday that the opposition TDP leaders had no moral right to speak on farmers’ issues, as they had left a debt of ₹960 crore towards crop procurement.
“The letter written by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu about the pending arrears to farmers is a false propaganda by the TDP leaders. The Opposition has been showing false concern on farmers and the agriculture sector. It was Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy who took the initiative of clearing all the pending arrears left by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, who should be ashamed for writing a letter saying that the farmers were paid within 48 hours of procuring the crops during the TDP rule,” said Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy.
Hardly 18 lakh tonnes were procured during 2014-15 by the then TDP government. By the end of the TDP term in 2018-19, 20.5 lakh tonnes of crops were procured at a cost of ₹4,800 crore, leaving arrears of ₹1,000 crore.
In the current government, under the direction of Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in 2019-20 nearly 34.74 lakh tonnes of farm produce was procured by paying ₹6,331 crore, and in 2020-2021 so far over 25 lakh tonnes was procured by paying ₹4,728 crore to farmers. The government would complete the targeted procurement of 45 lakh tonnes this year, said Mr. Sajjala, adding it was a clear evidence that the YSRCP government is committed to farmers’ welfare.
Price protection
He said that the main concern behind bringing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) was to safeguard farmers from losses due to a non-profitable price. “It is not mandatory for farmers to sell their crops to the government. They can sell them to whoever is paying a higher price. The government’s job is to oversee that farmers are getting paid enough,” he said.
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy included tenant farmers under e-cropping, who were left out during the TDP regime with no support. Currently, procurement was taking place at village level right at the farm gate. The government’s objective was to stand by farmers from seed to sale.
On property tax, he said that the TDP was criticising the government without any basis except jealousy. Under the FRBM Act, the State was implementing the recommendations of the Central government as per the 15th Finance Commission, which was already being implemented in the BJP-ruled States. The additional revenue to the government due to the upgraded property tax policy was only ₹186 crore, said Mr. Sajjala and added that none of the property owners was making a fuss, except TDP and BJP leaders.
