TDP chief demands govt to soon clear over Rs 4,000 cr paddy dues to farmers

Amaravati(AP),  Telugu Desam Party (TDP) National President N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government immediately clear over Rs 4,000 crore dues to paddy farmers, who have been badly hit financially due to natural calamities. Paddy payments were not being made to farmers in East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts, he said in a statement.

The TDP chief flagged these concerns in a letter written to Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. “It was alarming that foodgrain dues to be paid by the government were mounting day by day… The paddy dues have accumulated and reached over Rs 4,000 crore as of now,” Naidu said. The farmers were being forced to make rounds to the respective offices. Naidu also strongly objected to the new practice introduced by the YSRCP-led government to make payments in 21 days and claimed it was causing many problems for the farmers. “Even this deadline was not being met by the government.

Nearly two months were over since the paddy was procured from the farmers, but their cash was not deposited,” he noted. As a result, the farmers were not able to repay their crop loan, he said adding that lack of funds would create problems for farmers who required money to begin planting during the ongoing kharif season. For instance, there were pending dues of Rs 2,500 crore only in Godavari districts as per the farmers. Alleging that the government was ignoring procurement, Naidu said so far, only 27.87 lakh tonnes of paddy has been procured as against the promised 45 lakh tonnes.

The groundnut crop was totally damaged in Rayalaseema during natural calamities in kharif 2020. No input subsidy was paid till now and there was no assurance from the government so far, he said. Further, the government is paying just Rs 1,050 per 75 kg for the BPT-54 variety of paddy, while its price is Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,350 in the open market. Farmers were losing Rs 300 to Rs 800, Naidu said. “There was a big gap between the prices being offered by the government and the private traders,” he said, adding that the Rythu Bharosa Kendras and Grama Sachivalayas were not coming to the rescue of the farmers. PTI