Minister for Civil Supplies Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao on Saturday alleged that TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu was falsely claiming that payments to farmers for paddy procurement had been made within 48 hours when he was the Chief Minister.
Addressing the media, Mr. Venkateswara Rao said the YSRCP government had cleared more than ₹960 crore towards paddy procurement that was kept pending by the TDP government.
Within three months of assuming power, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had ensured payment of ₹4,000-crore dues to the farmers, the Minister asserted. By the time Mr. Naidu wrote a letter to the Chief Minister on pending payments, the Central and State governments had already procured 28 lakh tonnes of paddy and disbursed ₹1,637 crore to the farmers, the Minister said.
As per the instructions of the Chief Minister, payments were being made to the farmers within 21 days of procuring the crop, he said, adding that ₹1,619 crore was pending disbursal as on date.
“Despite delay in the release of ₹3,229 crore arrears by the Centre, the State government has been clearing the dues of the farmers from the treasury,” the Minister said.
Mr. Naidu had betrayed the farmers by not fulfilling the promise he had made in the run-up to the 2014 elections that he would waive ₹85,000 crore farm loans, he alleged. “Mr. Naidu did not clear even 20% of the promised amount during his five-year stint,” the Minister alleged.
Referring to N. Lokesh’s allegation that the Chief Minister was vindictive towards the opposition leaders, Mr. Venkateswara Rao warned him against criticising the Chief Minister.
Stating that many YSRCP leaders had been killed during the TDP term, the Minister said it was not proper to attribute such incidents to the government.
