State govt should clear pending bills of ‘Neeru–Chettu’ programme: TDP

PNS|Vijayawada

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Andhra Pradesh State unit president K Acchannaidu has demanded that the YSRCP government clear the pending bills of ‘Neeru – Chettu’. Even though the Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered to clear the pending bills within six weeks, they have not been paid, he added.

Alla Venkata Gopala Krishna Rao, State Coordination Committee convener of the TDP-affiliated Neeru–Chettu and president of the Andhra Pradesh Water Users Associations’ Federation, and P Veeraiah, member, submitted a representation to K Acchannaidu at his camp office in Vijayawada on Thursday.

Gopala Krishna Rao told Acchannaidu that the State government had paid around Rs. 536 crore out of the total pending amount of Rs.1,277 crore so far. Bills worth Rs.731 crore were still pending. As many as 6,210 farmers have approached the High Court for the clearance of payment of Rs.1,277 crore. As many as 3,200 farmers filed contempt petitions, while the State government violated the court orders, he explained.

Later, Acchannaidu said that due to the negligence of the State government, the Neeru – Chettu bills had been pending for the past three years and seven months. Several farmers committed suicide and hundreds of farmers are in debt, he said. The State government should be held responsible for this, he added.

Further, he alleged that the State government had issued necessary orders (G.O.), but the payments were not done properly. “If the government does not follow the High Court orders, the farmers should file more contempt petitions. Also, the Neeru–Chettu compliant cell would fight until all the payments are made,” he said.

He said that the State government had sanctioned Rs.546.17 crore through eight G.Os, but credited only Rs.375 crore to the farmers’ bank accounts. Rs.94.85 crore was released after the farmers filed 513 contempt petitions. On the lines of payments of the NREGA bill, the State government should take action to clear the pending Neeru–Chettu bills, he demanded.