|
YSRCP chief and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will visit the Devarapalli auction platform on Wednesday and interact with tobacco farmers who are facing severe distress due to falling of prices, according to the YSRCP Central Office.
Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, Party General Secretary MVS Nagi Reddy said the tobacco farmers who had earlier called on Reddy have urged him to visit the auction platform to know firsthand their plight. Tobacco prices are falling down despite Chandrababu telling and tweeting about low bids- no bids and said that tobacco should not be bought for less than Rs 200. The average price of tobacco is now at Rs 186.90 per kg. Tobacco Board, which was supposed to upload the data of the auction on quantity, price, and rejections, has now stopped for the past ten days, which is further troubling the farmers due to lack of information, and farmers are on dharna, yet there is no response from the government. YSRCP, as a responsible opposition party, will highlight the farmers' issues based on authentic data, and the Union Minister Pemmasani has made tall claims about giving subsidy to farmers, but has no comprehension. The Centre has announced for a long time about 4 per cent interest on agriculture loans, and YS Rajasekhara Reddy and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy have introduced zero per cent interest to farmers. Tobacco farmers are losing Rs 50 per kg, while the Union Minister's announcement will not provide any relief to the farmers. The government has tweeted that high-quality tobacco will be purchased at Rs 250 per kg, medium at Rs 190 and low quality at Rs 110 per kg. What the situation demands is that Markfed should be pressed into action, and this would create competition, and the farmers will get a fair price. Whenever Reddy visits to interact with farmers, be it tobacco, mirchi or mango, his tour will alert the government to swing into action, and his tour of West Godavari will also yield results as the voice of tobacco farmers will be heard nationwide. The El Nino effect may not be there in the State as the catchment areas in north, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh are getting huge rains and the rivers are brimming with water. However, Srisailam waters are being drawn by the upper riparian state of Telangana by using five lifts, affecting Rayalaseema, he said. (ANI)
|
