Hyderabad, (Samajweekly) Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday wrote to chief minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, demanding the immediate release of dues to farmers, amounting to as much as Rs 4,000 crore.
“Pending dues to farmers are as much as Rs 4,000 crore. Despite most of the farmers selling their food grains in Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts, money hasn’t been credited to them,” wrote Naidu.
According to the TDP chief, pending dues to farmers in East and West Godavari districts alone amount to Rs 2,500 crore.
He said the state government has procured only 27.87 lakh MT of food grains until now, though it had promised to buy 45 lakh MT of food grains.
“Following a series of natural calamities, farmers are severely suffering and the pending dues are further troubling them,” said the southern state’s principal opposition leader.
Naidu alleged that the state government failed to pay crop insurance, release pending dues and buying food grains at minimum support price.
He claimed that during the TDP government, farmers used to get paid within 48 hours and alleged that the ruling Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government has extended the due date to 21 days.
