Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday strongly defen-ded appointing TRS activists to farmer coordination councils, saying they had fought for statehood. Speaking in the Assembly on Monday, Mr Rao said the TRS activists had spent their money and braved police cases during the agitation. “Only such committed people can do justice to the councils and protect the interests of farmers,” he said. Mr Rao asked Opposition parties whether farmers should not be picked for the councils just because they are TRS activists. He said the councils were aimed at organising farmers and ensuring MSP (minimum support price). They would have no powers, and would not be paid salaries.
“The councils are meant for the service of farmers. They will act as a link between farmers and traders to ensure MSP. They will coordinate with officials of respective departments to ensure that Rs 8,000 per acre financial assistance reaches genuine farmers,” he said. Opposition Congress, BJP and TD members asked where was the need to creating new councils when there were elected bodies like the gram panchayats, cooperative societies and market committees.
Mr Rao replied, “These bodies were there even earlier. Why did the TD government appoint two lakh Rythu Mitra teams in 2003 and spend Rs 350 crore? Why did the Congress government appoint 50,000 Adarsha Rythulu in 2005 and spend Rs 60 crore, among whom autorickshaw drivers and mechanics were included?” Mr Rao said there was criminal negligence on the part of previous governments due to which the farmers were facing several hardships now.
“You failed to utilise the legitimate share of water in the Krishna and Godavari rivers. No projects were built and when we are trying to build projects, you are creating legal hurdles and filing cases in the name of farmers. Are there any farmers in Telangana state who can fight cases in Supreme Court by hiring advocates for '6 lakh per day? Everyone knows who are behind them,” Mr Rao said.
He said the state-level farmer council would be registered as a corporation for which the government would provide bank guarantee and seed funds to purchase produce from farmers at MSP in case traders refuse to do so. Earlier, BJP legislator N.V.S.S. Prabhakar said the government had turned farmers' councils into TRS committees. “I will show how effectively this can be executed from next year. If people think we are going wrong, they will punish us,” Mr Rao replied.
