Former Minister T Harish Rao lamented the government for not paying attention to farmers due to beauty pageants. He accused the CM of doing reviews on beauty pageants, but not the fate of farmers suffering due to untimely rains and losing their lives on piles of paddy.
He wondered whether beauty pageants would help? He deplored that due to untimely rains, a hundred lorries of paddy have been soaked in the market and five farmers have already lost their lives on piles of paddy. He alleged that these were not ordinary deaths but government murders.
He visited the Siddipet market yard and inspected the soaked paddy. Expressing his impatience with the officials’ attitude, he demanded that the soaked paddy be purchased immediately. He criticized that the purchase process has not been going on for a week or ten days. He said that paddy is being sold at a price of five kilos.
“What action will be taken on this? They said that cuts are being made in the name of taluk and tarugu. The government is not giving the farmers courage”, he said and alleged that nature seems to have taken revenge because of the CM’s failure to speak.
Harish Rao asked the government not to boast that the country has harvested the highest crop, but to take care of the sufferings of the farmers. He deplored that they are harassing the farmers by not buying the harvested crop, otherwise busy with reviews of beauty pageants.
He said that due to untimely winds and rains, the mangoes have all fallen without fruit. He criticized that the government has also drowned the cotton farmers and only 20 percent of the cotton farmers have been taken at MSP and the remaining 80 percent has been given to brokers and private millers. He said that the farmers have suffered a loss of about Rs 3,000 crores.
Meanwhile, Harish Rao demanded a CBI inquiry into the injustice done to cotton farmers. He challenged the minister to prove that he was giving paddy money within 48 hours. He said that he did not receive any money within ten days. He alleged that he did not give a single rupee despite boasting about the bonus.
He demanded that Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima be stopped. He demanded that Rythu Bandhu funds be released immediately. Harish Rao alleged that CCI officials had committed corruption worth Rs. 3,000 crores in cotton procurement.
He said that only 20% of cotton farmers received support price, while 80% of cotton was bought from farmers at a low price and sold to CCI at a higher price. He demanded that the CBI immediately investigate the CCI officials who committed this corruption.