• Shabbir Ali leads massive dharna at Kamareddy Collectorate
• Congress demands cancellation of the Dharani portal, waiver of crop loans
Kamareddy : Former Minister & TPCC PAC Convener Mohammed Ali Shabbir has accused the TRS Government of illegally grabbing farmers’ land in the name of the Dharani portal.
He was addressing a massive dharna at the Kamareddy Collectorate on Monday as part of the Congress party’s State-wide agitation demanding the cancellation of the Dharani portal, waiver of crop loans and resolution of the Podu lands issue.
Shabbir Ali said that Congress always empowered the poor and farmers. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi distributed over 48 lakh acres of land among poor people. In undivided AP, he said that the Congress Govt under the leadership of Chief Minister Dr Y. S. Rajashekhar Reddy distributed 6.30 lakh acres of land among the poor from 2004-2009. He said that the Revenue Sadassus were held to distribute land among the poor. However, he alleged that KCR Govt was taking away land from poor farmers in the name of Dharani.
The Congress leader alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao was using Dharani as a tool to grab farmers’ land for his family and friends. He said complaints involving nearly 30 lakh acres of land have arisen after the introduction of Dharani. “KCR Govt is snatching away prime parcels of land by placing them under Prohibited Zone. Those pieces of land are being sold to private companies in open auctions. Else, members of the KCR family are indirectly selling those lands to private parties. Congress party will not tolerate this injustice to farmers and will fight till Dharani is cancelled,” he announced.
Shabbir Ali also slammed the TRS Govt for not fulfilling its promise of waiving crop loans up to Rs. 1 lakh. He said despite completing nearly four years in the second term, the TRS Govt did not waive off crop loans. He demanded that sufficient funds should be allocated in the ensuing budget to waive off all crop loans in a single take.
He demanded that the State Government place the Agriculture Action Plan in the public domain and provide the necessary guidance, quality seeds and fertilizers and other facilities to the farmers. He said CM KCR should give an assurance to farmers that the State Government would procure their entire produce.
The Congress leader also demanded immediate resolution of the Podu lands issue. He said that the TRS Govt created an unnecessary rift between the Tribals and Forest officials by creating a controversy over Podu lands. He said KCR Govt was responsible for the murder of a forest officer in Kothagudem. He demanded that the State Government restore the rights of Tribals over forest land to put an end to the Podu land issue.
Shabbir Ali described the Kaleshwaram Project as a huge scam and said despite spending over Rs. 1.80 lakh crore, the project was not providing irrigation facilities to even 1,000 acres. He said if the State Govt completes packages 21 & 22 of the Pranahita Chevella Project by spending about Rs. 10,000 crores, then irrigation facilities could be provided to over four lakh acres of land in the Nizamabad district.
Hundreds of Congress workers participated in the dharna at the Kamareddy Collectorate. Later, a memorandum on the farmers’ issues was also submitted to the District Collector. Former MP Suresh Shetkar, former MLA Gangaram, Banswada constituency Incharge Kasula Balraj, Yellareddy Incharge Vadepalli Subhash Reddy and other senior leaders participated in the Dharna.
