TRS demands package for Telangana farmers

hyderabad: the telangana rashtra samithi (trs) has asked the government to announce a package for farmers who lost their crops in the recent gale and hailstorm in the telangana region on the lines of the one announced for the rayalaseema groundnut farmers. the telangana rashtra samithi has also demanded that the government pay an ex-gratia of rs 1 lakh each to the families of four persons who died in the hailstorm recently.the telangana rashtra samithi threatened to launch a massive agitation if the government did not concede its demand and take immediate measures to rescue the affected persons in the telangana region. speaking to reporters here on monday, telangana rashtra samithi president k chandrasekhar rao found fault with chief minister n chandrababu naidu for not visiting any of the hailstorm affected areas. it clearly showed the negligence of the chief minister towards farming community of the telangana region. “the chief minister gave extensive publicity for cyclone in andhra region and picturised it as a national calamity. but the government’s poor response to the hailstorm affected persons reflects its discrimination towards telangana,� he said and demanded that the government launch relief measures immediately as it had done in the andhra region during the cyclones. stating that the farmers in telangana suffered losses worth rs 125 crore during the recent hailstorm, rao said that despite this, the government did not stop collection of the power and water charges, besides recovering the loans from the affected farmers.