State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Andhra Pradesh) K. Ramakrishna has lambasted Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for adopting delaying tactics on farm loan waiver.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, he demanded that the AP government come out with a specific plan, saying farmers needed loans urgently for the kharif season. He said farmers were under pressure and running from pillar to post for money to take up sowings. With bankers categorising small and marginal farmers as ‘defaulters’, he said there was urgent need for the government to intervene and see that they got the loans they wanted.
“Mr. Naidu and Y. Ramakrishnudu have both served earlier as Finance Ministers and are fully aware of what is required. Where is the need for them to institute a committee again,” he asked, adding that this was proof that they were not serious about implementing pre-poll promises. The CPI, he said, would stage protests outside all banks across AP on July 4 to highlight farmers’ problem.
On the local bodies front, Mr. Ramakrishna charged the AP CM and Telangana CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao with engineering defections of MPTC and ZPTC members, MLA and MLCs and even MPs. He said it was time a stop such political manoeuvres in the interests of democracy.
Referring to the gas pipeline blast in East Godavari district recently, he regretted that 21 years and seven blowouts later, governments were yet to learn lessons. He said a conference would be held in Amalapuram on July 11 to draw attention of the powers-that-be.
MLC P.J. Chandrasekhar said while it was welcome that the AP Chief Minister had given the nod for the retirement age of State government employees to increase to 60 from 58 now, he demanded that it be extended to employees of all public sector undertakings too.
