Farmer standing in queue for urea dies in Telangana

Amid claims of urea shortage in Telangana, a 69-year-old farmer collapsed and died reportedly after suffering cardiac arrest while standing in queue for buying the fertilizer in Siddipet district on Thursday, police said.

G Yellaiah, a native of Achimayipally village, went to the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society office at Dubbak and stood in the queue but suddenly collapsed after which he was rushed to the nearby government hospital where doctors declared him bought dead, they said.

Farmers demanded that the state government release ex-gratia to the bereaved family.

An agriculture official said farmers gathered in large numbers as the urea stock arrived.

"We gave them tokens to stand in the queue and suddenly one of them collapsed...," the official said.

The incident created a furore with the opposition Congress and BJP hitting out at the state government.

BJP Telangana chief spokesperson K Krishna Saagar Rao said the K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)government had "once again let down the farmers of the state."
Describing the KCR government as "anti-farmer", senior Congress leader and former MP Mallu Ravi said "the government has no commitment towards agriculture."