Telangana ministers promise protection of crops
Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to be proactive and address any challenges faced by farmers during the crucial final phase of the rabi crop season
HYDERABAD: Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday said safeguarding standing crops in the ongoing Rabi season was of utmost priority for the government, and called on all departments concerned to work in close coordination and ensure farmers were not put to hardship.
He was speaking during a video conference in which agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari, top officials from the irrigation, agriculture, electricity departments, and all district collectors and superintendents of police took part.
Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to be proactive and address any challenges faced by farmers during the crucial final phase of the rabi crop season. “There is a lot of misinformation being spread about irrigation water availability,” he said, and called upon officials to counter such false propaganda by visiting the affected areas and explaining the real situation to the people.
Nageswara Rao said there was no truth in the rumours about large-scale crop damage, and said “certain groups that are politically motivated, are spreading misinformation.”
Natural occurrences such as borewells drying up or electric motors failing do not indicate systemic failure and should not be misinterpreted. He urged officials to be vigilant, immediately intervene in affected areas, and implement necessary measures to prevent further inconvenience to farmers.
Earlier, Uttam Kumar Reddy took part in a pre-budget meeting on the irrigation department that was chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and attended by top finance and irrigation departments officials. “The government,” Vikramarka said, “is ready to release funds on a priority basis to complete several ongoing irrigation projects.
“The previous government in its ten years, only focused on Kaleshwaram project and neglected many others and the Congress government is committed to complete these pending projects and increase area under irrigation,” Bhatti said.