Farmers approaching private lenders, says Jagadish Reddy

With borewells drying up and no irrigation water supply, operational costs were increasing for the farmers.

Hyderabad: Former Minister G Jagadish Reddy said despite the drought situation prevailing in the State, the Congress government had failed in initiating measures to bail out farmers who were suffering debilitating losses.

With borewells drying up and no irrigation water supply, operational costs were increasing for the farmers. With banks failing to extend loans to farmers, they were approaching private lenders for cultivation costs, he said.

Standing crops in vast lands were getting dried up and yet the State government was unmoved over the farmers’ plight. In erstwhile Nalgonda district, farmers had appealed to the MLAs and Ministers for timely supply of water, yet their pleas were not considered, he said.

The former Minister along with BRS Nalgonda Lok Sabha constituency candidate K Krishna Reddy and Bhongir candidate K Mallesh, told the media here on Sunday that fearing backlash from farmers, Ministers Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy were avoiding visits to Nagarjunasagar dam.

Yasangi season had commenced after Congress government came to power. If the government was committed towards farmers’ welfare, immediately the Ministers should review the issues being faced by farmers and extend support to them, he demanded.

In the BRS rule, farmers had not faced water and power supply issues. During the yasangi and vanakalam seasons, the BRS government used to review the situation and take up measures accordingly, besides extending timely support to the farmers, he reminded.

Dubbing both Congress and BJP as two sides of the same coin, the former Minister said both the parties were targeting BRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao and suppressing his voice to derive political mileage in the Lok Sabha elections.

“People have realized the significance of BRS for Telangana’s welfare and development. They will teach both Congress and BJP, a fitting lesson in the elections,” Jagadish Reddy said.