Our govt pro-farmer: CM

PNS|Vijayawada

Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday released the third tranche of funds under the ‘YSR Sunna Vaddi Panta Runalu’ scheme to ensure appropriate financial assistance to farmers. The funds were released for protecting the farmers from a debt trap and assure Rs 160.55 crore worth of financial support to 8,22,411 farmers who had taken crop loans up to Rs 1 lakh during the Rabi 2020-2021 & Kharif 2021 season.

The CM also disbursed Rs 39.39 crore directly into the bank accounts of 45,998 farmers who lost their crops due to heavy rains and floods during the July-October Kharif season in 2022.

Addressing a video conference, the Chief Minister reiterated his unwavering support for the farmer community in the State and said, “About 62 percent of the population is dependent on agriculture. I can proudly say that no state in the country is as pro-farmer as Andhra Pradesh. Every year, financial assistance is provided to farmers by our government to ensure they don’t fall into a debt trap. Our government firmly believes that farmers’ welfare is equal to our state’s welfare and we are working in that direction with every step we take.”

Denouncing the previous regime for neglecting the woes of farmers, CM Jagan stated, “Under the Chandrababu Naidu government, the farmers were affected by droughts and losses. Only Rs 15,000 crore was released to waive farmers’ loans. On the contrary, the YSRCP government has given Rs 25,971 crores only under Rythu Bharosa in a span of just three and a half years.”

CM further highlighted, “In the previous government, farmers used to bear the interest burden and had to make rounds to middlemen and field-level officers, but now based on e-crop data assessment the crop loss is done in a scientific manner, and compensation is paid on time to eligible beneficiaries. We display the names of eligible beneficiaries at RBKs for social audit in the most transparent manner, helping farmers to file complaints in the village itself if their names are not enlisted.”

Further, exposing the TDP, CM Jagan said, “Chandrababu Naidu cheated people in the name of waiving Rs 87,612 crore worth of loans to farmers. In reality, only Rs 15,000 crore in loans were written off. And I want to mention that it is our government that has actually cleared the pending dues of Rs 12,023 crore.”

CM Jagan further said that 44.28 lakh farmers were provided with crop insurance worth Rs 6685 crore now, while the previous government’s actions only incurred losses to farmers. Unlike any other government, we are disbursing input subsidies directly into the accounts of farmers for the crop loss before the end of the season when the loss was incurred. To date, the YSRCP government has disbursed Rs 1,834 crores to 21.31 lakh farmers under input subsidy.

It is noteworthy that the Jagan government extended support of Rs 1,37,975.47 crore to farmers under various schemes since 2019.

Apart from this, CM Jagan interacted with district collectors, YSRCP leaders as well as farmers who were present at the conference. During the meeting, after listening to one particular farmer, the CM asked the Konaseema Collector about the status of the construction of a bridge in the district and directed him to ensure that the construction commences within a week.