Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gidugu Rudra Raju, along with senior party leaders, met Governor S. Abdul Nazeer on December 1 (Friday) and urged him to direct the State government to intensify drought relief works.
Mr. Rudra Raju said drought-hit farmers in the State were in distress and requested immediate intervention from the Governor to address their woes. He said only 12 of the 26 districts in the State have received normal rainfall. Finding fault with the government declaring only 103 mandals as drought-affected, he demanded that all the 450 mandals be declared drought-hit.
“Distressed farmers are resorting to suicides, but the State is trying to downplay the gravity of the problem. If this is the situation in November-December, imagine the farmers’ plight in the summer months”Gidugu Rudra RajuAndhra Pradesh Congress Committee president
The party also demanded a grant of ₹25 lakh ex gratia to the kin of farmers who committed suicide, a minimum compensation of ₹50,000 per acre of land for crop loss due to drought, insisting that the aid be given equally to both farmers who own lands and tenant farmers.
The State Congress president said the prevailing drought conditions had pushed the agriculture sector into a deep crisis and pointed out that there was an immediate need to release water to save the standing crops. “Distressed farmers are resorting to suicides, but the State is trying to downplay the gravity of the problem. If this is the situation in November-December, imagine the farmers’ plight in the summer months,” he said.
