Tenant farmers assn flays denial of Annadata Sukhibhava sops
- Andhra Pradesh Tenant Farmers’ Association condemns coalition govt for excluding tenant farmers from second instalment of Annadata Sukhibhava scheme, denying them the promised Rs 20,000 support
- Leaders call non-release of funds ‘outrageous injustice’, call for statewide protests against the govt’s ‘deceptive and anti-farmer policies’
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh Tenant Farmers’ Association has strongly condemned the state government for not extending the second instalment of the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme to tenant farmers, calling it an “outrageous injustice” and accusing the coalition government of “surrendering to landowners.”
In a statement on Wednesday, the association’s president Y Radhakrishna and general secretary M Haribabu said that it was unacceptable that the government failed to recognise tenant farmers and provide the promised Rs 20,000 investment support under the second phase of the scheme.
They recalled that tenant farmers were ignored in the first instalment as well, following which the government had assured that the benefit would be deposited into their accounts in October. “Deadlines have passed, and the promises have been forgotten,” they said.
They asserted that Annadata Sukhibhava should rightfully go to tenant farmers who actually invest in cultivation. While leaders of TDP and Jana Sena had earlier criticised the previous government for enacting a “draconian law” and for denying Rythu Bharosa to OC tenant farmers, they had publicly promised—through the Super Six assurances—that all tenant farmers across castes, including OC tenants, would receive Rs 20,000 under the Annadata Sukhibhava scheme.
“Yet this government has not given a single rupee to even one tenant farmer. There can be no greater injustice,” they said, accusing the government of “betraying” tenant farmers who trusted their assurances.
The tenant farmers leaders also criticised the Minister concerned for announcing in the Assembly that a new law for tenant farmers would be introduced, but failing to bring it forward. Being unable to declare even a date for releasing Annadata Sukhibhava to tenant farmers “exposes the government’s inefficiency.”
They alleged that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the coalition government have yielded to landowner pressure. They appealed to all tenant farmers across the state to stage protests and agitations against what they described as the “deceptive and anti-farmer policies” of the coalition government and its refusal to credit Annadata Sukhibhava to tenant farmers.
