Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made it clear in the Assembly on Monday that by having the membership of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) farmers will not become ineligible to be members of Rythu Samanvaya Samthis (RSS) from village level and only those who understand the spirit of the idea and are committed to implement it will be taken on board.
The Government would consider objections against members of the farmers’ committees only if they were found to be not having agricultural land. “The TRS workers are bound to be there in the panels as it is they who fought for statehood and they will continue to do so in the reconstruction of the State and their membership of TRS won’t be a disqualification”, the Chief Minister asserted.
Responding to G. Chinna Reddy’s (Congress) allegation during the short discussion on “₹8,000 Investment Support to Farmers – Formation of Rythu Samanvaya Samithis” that several individuals who had no agricultural land and settled elsewhere for employment were included in the farmers’ panels in his constituency, the Chief Minister said that such instances, if any, would be looked into.
However, he reiterated that TRS membership was not a disqualification since the party has about 56 lakh members. He also reminded the Congress member that the then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy told the Assembly that they would appoint whoever they like as ‘Adarsha Rythus’ and one has to join Congress if he/she wants to be a model farmer. Unlike the model farmers, the RSS members won’t be paid ₹6,000 per month honorarium but would have a role in forming crop colonies, monitor the positioning of seed and fertilizer, bargain price for produce and schedule the arrival of produce at markets.
The Chief Minister also reiterated that tenants would not be paid the investment support and only the land owners would get it and it was for the two to have an understanding. He also brushed aside the Congress member’s objection on his remarks that it was the previous governments’ criminal negligence in combined Andhra Pradesh to have ruined the minor irrigation systems and delayed completion of the irrigation projects.
Earlier, Mr. Chinna Reddy said that the input investment proposed by the Government was insufficient and it should be increased keeping in mind the cost of cultivation.
He also criticised the Government for not following the provisions cited in the GOs in choosing farmers for the RSS. Further, he observed that the issuance of orders was haphazard since the GO dated September 4 had a reference of Minister’s letter dated September 28.
He suggested the Government organise farmers on the lines of women self help groups and give them margin money/corpus fund for taking up economic activities.
