BRS holds govt. responsible for heat-stroke deaths of farmers waiting for disposal of paddy

BRS leader blames Congress government for farmer heat-stroke deaths, demands ex gratia, criticizes procurement delays and unfulfilled promises.

HYDERABAD

Senior leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former minister T. Harish Rao has held the Congress government responsible for the increasing number of heat-stroke (sunstroke) deaths of farmers while guarding their harvested paddy, waiting for procurement by the government.

Terming them deaths due to government negligence, the BRS leader said the farmers were being made to wait for weeks to dispose of their produce at the procurement centres. The process was going slowly due to the delay in shifting the paddy stocks from the procurement centres to the rice mills. He demanded that the government pay ex gratia of ₹25 lakh each to the families concerned.

He listed out some of the farmers’ deaths due to heat-stroke, waiting at their harvested paddy heaps, with the latest being that of G. Kishan at Pochampally in the Mahabubabad district. He also cited the examples of such deaths in Jagitial, Mahabubabad, Jangaon and other districts.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he claimed that the procurement of paddy had not crossed 40 lakh tonnes even in the third week of May, against the government’s promise to procure 70 lakh tonnes. The farmers were not getting the amount for their produce even 10 days after disposal, and about ₹4,000 crore payments were due for paddy procured so far. The farmers did not get anything out of ₹512 crore bonus this season.

He observed that the government was getting its priorities wrong as instead of going round the procurement centres, the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were busy going round the venue of the Miss World pageant. The Chief Minister did not find time to review agriculture even once so far, Mr. Harish Rao said.

The BRS leader ridiculed Deputy Chief Minister M. Bhatti Vikramarka’s statement that payment of Rythu Bharosa would go on round the year forgetting the promise of the party that it would be paid well in advance of the commencement of every agricultural season. Even landholders up to 3 acres did not receive the support completely so far and the promise of enhancement of amount to ₹7,500 per acre per season was also not kept.