In what only shows the apathy and ignorance of the Chandrababu Naidu government towards the farmers and their woes, it has been reported that a Kurnool farmer had to beg in order to procure bribe amount and get his “land dispute” resolved. The farmer, along with his wife and children was spotted in Velugodu Mandal headquarters. He was seen holding a banner asking for donations from people in order to bribe revenue officials. This is particularly disturbing and goes on to show the distress which the farmers in the state of Andhra Pradesh are facing.
As per reports, the farmer has been identified as M Venkateswarlu alias Balija Raju. Venkateswarlu hails from Madhavaram village in Velugodu Mandal. He had decided to sell his ancestral land admeasuring 25 acres. He had to sell this agricultural land in order to repay his debts. However, the land has now come under the control of his relatives. It has been reported that he approached the revenue officials in the Velugodu tahsildar office requesting them to intervene to take possession of the land from his relatives. The farmer said, “The revenue officials are saying that I do not have ownership right on the land which I cultivated once. I am well aware of the fact that I do not get justice without bribing the revenue officials as it is a common practice in the government office. I have no other option but to beg on the roads along with my family members to raise the bribe amount.” The tahsildar has, however, said, “Though Raju is claiming that the land belongs to him, he does not have any documents to claim the ownership right on it.”
This is a shocking report of how a farmer has to go to the extent of begging in order to bribe the revenue officials and resolve a land dispute. What is even more disturbing is the fact that a farmer is compelled to sell 25 acres of agricultural land that he inherited from his ancestors in order to repay the debts. It is illustrative of the fact that farmers in the state of Andhra Pradesh are in deep trouble. They are facing trouble in repayment of debts coupled with the issue of corruption. In such a background the incumbent government seems to have ignored the issue of farmers.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu has been particularly apathetic towards the issues which farmers of the state are facing for a long time. Earlier this year, he made a controversial statement about the farmers of Andhra Pradesh. While addressing a gathering, he had stated that people are slaves of subsidies. In a categorical remark against the farmers, he alleged that the farmers in the state have become habituated to input and crop subsidies. The farming community did not take this insensitive remark very well and said that this statement implied that the avocation of farming is taken up only in order to avail input and crop subsidies.
It is thus clear that the Chandrababu led Andhra Pradesh government is not very keen on doing something substantial in order to improve the condition of farmers in the state. Moreover, the farmers have to face the issues of corruption and pending loans as illustrated by the present case. The mainstream media as always won’t report this serious issue as it involves the Andhra government led by Chandrababu Naidu who happens to be one of the most eloquent anti-Modi propagandists. The same media which is vocal in criticism of Modi government on the issue of farm distress is now maintaining stunning silence over this shocking report.