Workers of the Opposition Telugu Desam Party took out a protest march here on Wednesday demanding effective market intervention by the YSR Congress Party government as farmers resorted to distress sale of paddy across SPSR Nellore district.
Donning farmers attire, the activists led by TDP polit bureau member Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy came in a big procession from the Narthaki Centre to the Collectorate raising slogans against the Jagan Mohan Reddy government for allegedly not keeping its promise to lift every grain of paddy produced by the farmers through a network of Farmers Assurance Centres.
Referring to the suicide bid made by a farmer in distress in Sangam mandal, he said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy should take a cue from his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhara Rao who had declared a war against the Centre on the paddy procurement issue as paddy growers were on the verge of ending their lives finding it difficult to break even leave alone making profits.
The TDP when in power had declared bonus price for paddy growers and allowed them to sell their produce at a place where they could get maximum returns, Mr. Somireddy recalled.
The minimum support price of ₹16,660 per putti (850 kg) remained elusive for the farmers who had produced about 80 lakh tonnes of paddy during the kharif season, he lamented and demanded a probe by the Centre into alleged fleecing of farmers by private millers year after year under the YSRCP regime.
Farmers would incur a loss of over ₹1,000 crore due to alleged failure of the State government to ensure MSP to the growers. Farmers would have no option to but to down the shutters of Rythu Bharaso Kendras, which had allegedly failed to come to the rescue of the growers, he said.
It was unfortunate that 10 YSRCP MLAs and 2 MPs elected from the district remained indifferent to the plight of farmers, alleged former Mayor Abdul Azeez. It was not just paddy growers but also those who cultivated, among other crops, chilli, mango and turmeric could not get a remunerative price for their produce, alleged TDP City Secretary Srinivasulu Reddy.
