Farmers’ suicides rampant in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana taking care of its farmers: KCR

JUKKAL: Distress in the farming community is reported from neighbouring Karnataka and Maharashtra States, while the young State of Telangana took care of every aspect of agriculture protecting the farmer from all possible farming disasters, said Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) addressing ‘Praja Ashirvad Sabha’ in Jukkal on Monday.

“Recently the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka DK Shivakumar came to Telangana and invited us to visit his State to see the five-hour power supply in that State. We told him that in Telangana there is round-the-clock power supply for agricultural pump sets, Rytu Bandhu, Rytu Bima and crop loan waiver,” KCR said.

He said that every day there were eight to 11 reports of deaths by suicide of farmers in Maharashtra. In Karnataka, farmers were forced to the brink of distress by giving them only five hours of power that too in two shifts,” the Chief Minister pointed out.

Recalling the days of drought in the Jukkal region, KCR said that once he even conducted a public meeting on the dry reservoir bed of the Nizamsagar project built a century ago by the seventh Nizam. “Today, after the formation of the State, Nizamasagar will be brimming with water as we are connecting it with the Kaleshwaram project,” the BRS Chief said.

He assured the people that canal work for the Lendi project was ready, but the Maharashtra Government refused to cooperate. Nagamadugu lift was almost ready and by the next Yasangi season, 40,000 acres of the Jukkal region would receive assured irrigation. He also assured that ‘Dalit Bandhu’ would be extended to other parts of the constituency after winning the elections.

He reiterated that voters must think twice before voting in the ensuing elections. “Don’t get excited during elections. Compare the last ten years with that of fifty years of rule by other parties. I am a farmer who sunk 27 borewells in my farm, almost all failed,” he recalled adding that groundwater levels increased after the implementation of Mission Kakatiya.

He said that the recovery of Telangana would have started in 2004 itself but due to the delaying tactics of the Congress, the formation of the State was delayed by a decade costing many lives.