Watch: Viral video of crying farmer couple in Khammam exposes Congress Govt’s failure in paddy procurement 

The couple Bollam Ramaiah and Chandrakala of Pullaiah Banjara village of Kallur mandal in the district brought paddy to the local purchase centre 20 days ago. The produce was soaked and swollen due to untimely rains as the authorities failed to purchase paddy even after 20 days.

Khammam: A video of a couple lamenting over the loss they suffered due to alleged negligence of the State government in procuring paddy has gone viral on social media.

The couple Bollam Ramaiah and Chandrakala of Pullaiah Banjara village of Kallur mandal in the district brought paddy to the local purchase centre 20 days ago. The produce was soaked and swollen due to untimely rains as the authorities failed to purchase paddy even after 20 days.

The couple’s pain has moved everyone and many have questioned the government failure to purchase paddy. Though the authorities have claimed to have set up a large number of paddy procurement centres, many of them have not started purchasing paddy.

In Khammam, it was planned to set up 344 rabi paddy procurement centres with a target of procuring 2.58 lakh metric tonnes of paddy. In Kothagudem, it was planned to set up 144 procurement centres and 124 opened.

Farmers were complaining that officials at the procurement centres were delaying paddy purchase on the pretext of improper moisture content. The delay was forcing the farmers to sell paddy to private traders at lower prices.

Responding to the Kallur farmers’ plight, former minister and senior BRS MLA T Harish Rao on his social media accounts said it was heartbreaking to see the grief of farmers Ramaiah and Chandrakala, who cultivated paddy on 18 acres of land taken on lease.

The farmers faced issues like untimely rains, irrigation water shortages and electricity problems; when the harvest was brought to the purchasing centre the government did not purchase the produce even after 20 days.

The plight of Ramaiah and Chandrakala was proof that the Congress government does not care about the farmers. It was not a disaster that nature has brought in the lives of farmers, but it was a disaster that Congress has brought into their lives, Harish Rao said.

The Congress government should come out of its deep slumber and pay attention to the farmers’ problems. The government should buy every grain that has been damaged due to its negligence and pay compensation to every farmer who has suffered losses, he demanded.