Telugu Desam Party (TDP) former MLA Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar has said that the Andhra Pradesh government declared the list of drought-hit mandals on October 31, a day after the deadline (October 30) for it (as per the drought manual).
“The YSRCP government has made no effort to mobilise funds from the Centre to compensate the farmers. The Jagan Mohan Reddy government washed its hands off the problems faced by farmers by merely declaring 103 mandals as drought-hit whereas 470 mandals have been affected,” said Mr. Narendra Kumar while addressing the media at the TDP State office on Novermber 2 (Thursday).
The TDP leader said that neither Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy nor Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu was bothered about the hardship the farmers had been enduring due to deficit rainfall.
The government did not allocate funds for drought relief measures. Drought conditions forced a huge number of people to migrate to other States in search of livelihood, he said.
“The YSRCP government has not submitted a report on the drought to the Centre, which reflects its negligence in mitigating the suffering of farmers. Telangana declared the drought-hit mandals in July while Karnataka pegged the loss inflicted by drought at approximately ₹30,000 crore,” Mr. Narendra Kumar added.
