Amaravati, July 15 (IANS) Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSR Congress Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday accused the coalition government of pushing the aqua sector into distress with its anti-farmer policies.
He assured the aqua farmers that the party will stand by them and take the path of agitation till justice is done to them.
Addressing a gathering at Bhimavaram in West Godavari district after an interaction with aqua farmers who poured out their woes, he alleged the coalition is helping the syndicate of companies that control the aqua sector at the cost of farmers.
The plight of aqua farmers is that while their cost of production works out to Rs 275 per kg, the price they are getting is Rs 230, which shows the sorry state of affairs in the aqua sector. All the companies that sell the seeds, feed and buyers have formed a syndicate, and all of them are TDP sympathisers, he alleged. They supply the feed at the rate they decide, and when it comes to buying, they ensure that the prices fall and the farmer is not even able to recover the cost, he said.
The former Chief Minister claimed that this syndicate is being favoured by the TDP leadership, which is why the aqua sector has been pushed into losses and in four months’ time, the aqua feed price was increased by Rs 16. He said that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu tried to display his concern by cutting the price by Rs 2, which is a pittance.
“Not just aqua but all farmers are being cheated by the coalition government, and MSP is not being given to any of the crops as Chandrababu is anti-farmer. We stand with farmers and continue to raise the issue and take the path of agitation till farmers get their due and hold their hand till justice is done. When we come back to the office, we will ensure that the syndicates are done away with,” he said.
Giving a contrast between the coalition and the YSRCP government, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said his government had brought in the Andhra Pradesh State Aquaculture Development Authority Act to regulate the aqua sector and monitor the prices to ensure that farmers get the assured price. The coalition government has set aside the norms of the Act and has been increasing the feed price, not helping farmers in time and being indifferent towards them, he said.
The YSRCP leader said that their government ensured that aqua farmers got MSP and ensured that the prices did not fall. It gave power to aqua farmers at Rs 1.50 per unit and paid Rs 3,306 crore as subsidy in five years, besides paying the dues left by the earlier government of Chandrababu, which amounted to Rs 401 crore.
“He did not keep up his poll promises given to farmers, but we set up integrated labs at 35 aqua regions. We had personnel to guide aqua farmers at RBKs, and the Fisheries University we set up at Narasapuram was closed by Chandrababu, who also stopped the medical college works there,” he said.
Jagan Mohan Reddy alleged that Chandrababu Naidu had been playing foul with aqua farmers through regulations and trying to hike power charges in the name of power factor. There are about 12,000 pending applications for new power connections, and transformers are not being given, leaving the farmers to use generators to carry out their operations.
“The production and exports of shrimp and prawns went up during our term while they are on the slide now as the aqua sector is at a loss due to the policies of Chandrababu,” he added while assuring that YSRCP will stand by aqua and all other farmers and fight for their cause.
–IANS
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