Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday said the next of kin of the farmers who had committed suicide would be paid ₹7 lakh as ex gratia.
Making the announcement during a videoconference with the Collectors and the SPs, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “I urge the Collectors to personally visit the homes of the farmers who have ended their lives.
“ The Collectors and the MLAs should go to the homes immediately and console the bereaved families. I also urge the farmers not to take the extreme step as the State government has rolled out many farmer-centric welfare schemes.” Quoting the statistics from the State Crime Records Bureau pertaining to the farmers’ suicide during 2014-2019, the Chief Minister said 1,513 farmers had ended their lives. But the next of kin of only 391 of them received ex gratia.
“Now, the YSRCP government has not only enhanced the ex gratia to ₹7 lakh but is also making sure that the amount is given immediately. The government is also enacting a law to ensure that the compensation is paid only to the legal heir of the deceased farmer,” he said.
Earlier, the Chief Minister reviewed the weekly grievance programme – Spandana – and directed the Collectors and the SPs to ensure that an efficient, transparent and accountable grievance redress mechanism was in place.
