The Telugu Desam and BJP have come up with separate demands for payment of compensation to crop loss on account of recent rains in the State.
The TDP, on one hand, asked the Centre to treat the rains as a national calamity and release Rs. 10,000 an acre for crops other than cotton, the BJP, on the other, wanted Rs. 15,000 an acre for paddy, Rs. 20,000 for cotton and Rs. 10,000 each for maize and soyabean.
Addressing a press conference, TDP MLAs Ravula Chandrasekhar Reddy and G. Jaipal Yadav said cotton crop suffered a heavy damage in the rains and demanded the Markfed, Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and civil supplies corporation to lift the produce. The CCI should set up procurement centres in every Assembly constituency.
The groundnut seed did not sprout at several places but the officials refused to accept it as damage and refused to enumerate the same.
‘Waive loans’
The loans of farmers should be written off and 100 per cent seed subsidy paid to them in the rabi. The gram panchayats should be paid money to purchase bleaching powder, chlorine tablets and phenyle, they said.
BJP State president G. Kishan Reddy told reporters separately that cotton was damaged over 17 lakh acres but the official figure was far less. He criticised the Central assistance in such situations in the past saying the demand was Rs. 44,900 crore since 2004 but the release was only Rs. 2,540 crore.
Mr. Reddy said the BJP cadre will visit all affected villages for four days from Monday to participate in relief work. He demanded Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to lead an all-party delegation to the Prime Minister to seek a liberal assistance.
