YSRCP President Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy
Credit: PTI Photo
Hyderabad: Opposition YSRCP on Tuesday raised concerns over alleged security lapses during the visit of former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to Guntur to meet chilli farmers to discuss MSP issues on Wednesday.
“Despite having Z+ category security, the police showed complete negligence. No police personnel were visible near the Guntur Mirchi Market Yard. It's a deliberate conspiracy to create security issues for Y S Jagan. YSRCP strongly condemns the government's approach. The government is trying to suppress farmers' voices by creating security concerns. Removing security is a planned attempt to create problems. The government's behaviour is highly anarchic. Since coming to power, the government has been intentionally reducing former Chief Minister YS Jagan’s security. They provided worn-out bulletproof vehicles. Security was scaled down without even conducting a review. The same negligence is seen during his district visits as well,” said former minister, YSRCP Guntur president, Ambati Rambabu.
Reiterating that farmers in the state are in distress as they are unable to sell their produce, Jagan has demanded the Chief Minister to come to the mirchi yard and rescue them.
Y S Jagan, who visited the Mirchi yard in Guntur, interacted with farmers and said ever since the coalition government came to power, farmers are not only deprived of MSP, but there are also no buyers for their produce.
The mirchi rate has drastically fallen from Rs 27,000 to Rs 8,000 per quintal, and yield per acre has also drastically fallen when compared to the previous year. Above this, the input costs have gone up, and the tenant farmers are bearing the brunt.
The situation is the same in Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, Prakasam, Kurnool, and Anantapuram as well, he said.
“Despite such a grave situation, there is no review from the government side and chief minister and the agriculture minister have no concern leaving farmers in the lurch. Chandrababu Naidu and his coalition government have done nothing for the farmers on one hand and, on the other, have stopped all the revolutionary reforms brought in by the YSRCP government. In our term, we have given MSP not just to chillies, turmeric, and onions but to 24 crops. If the farmers do not get MSP, the government has provided it, and RBKs were used as an anchor point for farmers. While chilli farmers are facing hardships, Naidu is least bothered. We have made the best use of technology to map the prices of commodities across the state through CM APP,” he said.