Cong accuses Telangana govt of neglecting farmers

Congress today accused Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of completely neglecting the agriculture sector in state and not keeping its promise of crop loan waiver.
Addressing a public meeting 'Rythu Rana Bheri' at Devarkonda in Nalgonda district, Telangana Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy slammed the state government for "not fulfilling" the promise of waiving off crop loans up to Rs 1 lakh.
He alleged the chief minister "wanted the farmers to remain hooked to their debts till next elections".
"About 37 lakh farmers are tied up to their old debts due to non-fulfilment of promise by the TRS government. Nearly 3.5 lakh women, who had pledged their jewellery, did not get any relief. KCR is deliberately causing delay in clearing the crop loan waiver dues while diverting funds for other purposes," Reddy said.

He claimed the Rs 920 crore fund, received from the Centre for drought relief, has been "diverted" to other schemes by the government and demanded from the government to clear the crop loan waiver dues in one go immediately.
Loans should be arranged for farmers through banks so as to prevent them from falling into the trap of private money lenders, Reddy said.
The Congress leader also accused the state government of resorting to forced acquisition of land for different projects.