: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday directed officials to undertake visits to the fields before submitting reports for payment of crop insurance. Mr. Naidu, who held a meeting with insurance officials besides bankers and agriculture officials, asked them to come out with a ‘proposal’ on any novel insurance scheme which would benefit farmers. He would approach the Centre, if need be, for necessary action.
He is learnt to have asked the bankers to extend loans to only those farmers who actually take up cultivation of crops.
Later, the Chief Minister participated in a review meeting on Rayalaseema irrigation projects chaired by Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao.
“Last year, we gave water to the Jeedipalli reservoir. We were supposed to take water up to the Gollapalli reservoir by August this year. Had you done that we need not have gone searching for water for drought mitigation activities (rain gun operations),” Mr. Naidu said.
