KCR gives Rs 3 lakh to kin of 750 martyred farmers

HYDERABAD: In a move that might set the precedent for other States, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each for the kin of around 750 farmers who died in the agitation against the now-repealed farm laws in North India. He also said that a delegation of Ministers and officers would head to Delhi on Sunday to get a clarity on the extent of paddy procurement by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from the State.

The State government would pay a total of Rs 22.5 crore to the kin of the farmers, he said. Telangana is the first State to announce such an ex-gratia, after the Centre repealed the farm laws on Friday.The Chief Minister also demanded that the Centre too should give an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh to the kin of each farmer’s family. Besides, he said the Centre should drop cases lodged against the agitating farmers. Even a sedition case was booked against a woman from Karnataka for tweeting in support of farmers. All such cases should be dropped, he said. 

He also sought the withdrawal of Electricity Amendment Bill, 2021, a law to provide minimum support price (MSP) for the farmers’ produce, and to refer the Krishna and Godavari water disputes to a Tribunal.
Speaking to reporters at Telangana Bhavan, the Rao assured the farmers that the State government would purchase the entire Kharif paddy produced in the State. “We have opened 6,600 purchasing centres. If necessary, we will open more centres. The government will purchase the entire paddy,” he said. The Agriculture and Civil Supplies Ministers will meet the Union Ministers and officials concerned to get a clarity on the Kharif paddy procurement and also on the paddy cultivation in Rabi season, which was started on Friday, he added.“There are some unconfirmed reports that the Centre will not buy boiled rice from Telangana produced in the Rabi season. We will seek clarity on the same,” he said. 

CM'S DEMANDS 

•  Drop all the cases lodged on farmers who participated in the agitation
•  Provide Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia each to the kin of 750 ryots
•  Increase reservations to SCs and STs in the State, as per the population
•  Categorise SCs into A, B, C and D categories
•  Take up BC census 
•  Withdraw Electricity Amendment Bill
•  Do not force States to fix meters to agriculture motors
•  Implement Atmanirbhar Bharat for farmers
•  Enact an Act for providing MSP to farmers’ produce