Joint Action Committee (JAC) of farmers held here on Tuesday demanded that the government extend Rs 5 lakh as ex gratia for the families of farmers who had committed suicide.
“Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao himself had claimed that Telangana is a surplus State and allocating crores of rupees for various schemes and buildings. Can’t Mr. Rao spare about Rs. 50 crore for families of farmers?” asked JAC leaders.
“We thought that the problems of farmers’ get solved once the Telangaana State was formed. But the situation had turned worse and about 850 farmers had committed suicide after formation of separate state. The government is not taking any steps to arrest the suicides,” said Sagar, one of the JAC leaders.
“Many suicides could have been averted had the government waived the farm loan at one stroke. Farmers were forced to go for outside loans at an interest rates ranging from Rs. 2 per month per Rs. 100 to Rs. 5 per month per Rs. 100. This has crippled their financial conditions,” said Pakala Srihari Rao, another JAC leader.
The programme was organised by Jayaraj, Telangana Rytu Sangam.
