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Free power is genuine question of helping farmers: Reddy
Hyderabad, Dec 14: Continuing his efforts to press for free power to agriculture sector, Andhra Pradesh Congress legislature party leader Y S Rajasekhar Reddy today contended that free power was not an election issue but a genuine question of helping a large section of poor farmers.
Hyderabad, Dec 14: Continuing his efforts to press for free power to agriculture sector, Andhra Pradesh Congress legislature party leader Y S Rajasekhar Reddy today contended that free power was not an election issue but a genuine question of helping a large section of poor farmers.
He was addressing a gathering of power experts, policy makers and representatives of NGOs, at a round table discussion, organised by a premier management training institute -- Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) here.
Reddy, who had led 'Praja Chaitanya Yatra' recently focussing on free power issue, said there was a need to supply power to farmers free of cost in view of peculiar circumstances prevailing in the state which accounted for highest number of suicides by debt-ridden farmers.
The high cost of water for agriculture in upcountry areas of the state had made farming an unviable and uneconomical proposition forcing several farmers to commit suicide, the CLP leader said.
The reforms process, he warned, would not succeed if it failed to address the problems of agriculture sector which “decided the destinies of over 70 per cent of population”.
The farmers in upland areas of the state spent atleast Rs 1,500 per acre more than their counterparts in the delta region while minimum support price (MSP) and other input costs were uniform across the state, he added. Bureau Report
Reddy, who had led 'Praja Chaitanya Yatra' recently focussing on free power issue, said there was a need to supply power to farmers free of cost in view of peculiar circumstances prevailing in the state which accounted for highest number of suicides by debt-ridden farmers.
The high cost of water for agriculture in upcountry areas of the state had made farming an unviable and uneconomical proposition forcing several farmers to commit suicide, the CLP leader said.
The reforms process, he warned, would not succeed if it failed to address the problems of agriculture sector which “decided the destinies of over 70 per cent of population”.
The farmers in upland areas of the state spent atleast Rs 1,500 per acre more than their counterparts in the delta region while minimum support price (MSP) and other input costs were uniform across the state, he added. Bureau Report