Jana Sena Party (JSP) president Pawan Kalyan distributed financial assistance of ₹ 1 lakh each to the next of kin of 74 tenant farmer from the undivided Prakasam district, who ended their lives, at a meeting in Parchur on Sunday.
Mr. Kalyan, as part of the ‘Koulu Rhythu Bharosa Yatra’ launched by his party, visited the house of P. Venkateshwarlu, a tenant farmer who resorted to the extreme step after being saddled with a debt burden of ₹16 lakh, in Yamanadala village near Yaddanapudi.
‘’I will take care of education of your two daughters,” Mr. Pawan Kalyan assured P. Anusha, wife of Venkateshwarlu and urged her not to discontinue education of the two girls.
The two girls—Vaishnavi and Srilakshmi— told the JSP chief that they wanted to pursue their higher education as Ms. Anusha received a cheque for ₹1 lakh from Mr. Pawan Kalyan.
The Jana Sena president was accompanied by party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) chairman Nadendla Manohar and party’s undivided Prakasam district unit president Sk. Riaz.
Ms. Anusha said that her husband had cultivated chilli, cotton and paddy in 7 acres of leased land, but the crops failed due to the vagaries of nature. Unable to clear the debts, Venkateshwarlu resorted to the extreme step, said Ms. Anusha.
“Despite running from pillar to post, I did not get any financial assistance from the district administration,” she lamented.
The Jana Sena Party claims that 84 farmers had ended their lives in undivided Prakasam district.
The relatives of the tenant farmers complained that they were unable to meet the ever-increasing cost of farm inputs and that they were grappling with the market fluctuations.
