Farmers In A State Of Misery Under TDP

Durgada Cross, East Godavari District: The sea of humanity and their affection at Chebrolu village slowed down the padayatra and compelled me to spend four hours in that village. At every step of my way Kapu women were seen holding placards and giving me a traditional welcome. People bestowed immense confidence and faith upon me. Pulapa Sai, student of class 7, has lost his eye sight right from his birth. But the young boy enthralled me by saying, “Jagan anna…” and then singing a song. While all these filled my heart with joy, there was yet another girl, belonging to Kapu community who met me and told me her heart wrenching story.

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Hearing her story can break anybody's heart except the yellow leaders. Her husband was a farmer who worked on a leased land. Due to untimely rains the entire crop was damaged. Government did not extend any help, with the debts mounting, he committed suicide. Both her sons died of illness. She had to sell her small house to clear the debts of her husband.

Moreover, her father, brother and father-in-law also died. She now lives in a small hut along with her mother and mother-in-law, three widows in one house. They are making a living by plucking tamarind seeds. Hearing her story pained me. A farmer who has been giving food to all of us, was unable to make a living and was committing suicide. Don’t the present day leaders understand these things?

When the TDP was in the opposition, they made a big hue and cry about every little issue. But now they are not bothered about rising deaths. In fact they say these deaths were due to family problems or because of the mental state of the farmers and that the farmers were trying to portray it as farm suicides just for compensation. Saying thus, the leaders have insulted the farmers in the state.

Devi from Pithapuram said that every year, the government says it will conduct DSC and every time we spend huge amounts on coaching. Similarly, Priyanka from Chebrolu said that they were not conducting DSC, but held TETs, for which you need private coaching. All these seem to be only to help these private coaching centres, she said.

There were many people in Chebrolu who told me about their ill health. One among them is Jogi Sai Srinivas, a student, who has been told by the local doctors that there is no treatment here for tumour in brain and asked him to go to Hyderabad. Similarly, Gundru Punna Rao has been diagnosed with cancer. He has been asked to go to Chennai for treatment. On the other hand, Somarapu Srinu doesn’t have money to buy medicines for paralysis. Likewise, at least 20 people I met in Chebrolu poured out their woes. I was shocked to see them all. Is there anything called government hospital? What happened to Arogya Sri? If a poor man is affected by disease does it mean the end of the road?

I have a question for the chief minister – Within a month of my father Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy becoming the Chief Minister in 2004, he passed a GO to release compensation to the families of farmers who had committed suicides. Is it not true that the compensation was given to farmers who had committed suicide during your tenure also? Due to your anti-farmer policies, the farmers are ending up in debts and committing suicides. Just to skip paying the compensation to the farmers’ families, is it not inhuman to say suicides were committed for some other reasons?