Guntur: The members of the Cabinet Sub-Committee, during their visit to villages under Thullur and Tedepalli mandals on Friday, faced the fury of the farmers. The committee members visited the villages to impress upon the farmers to part with their lands for capital city.
The members included Minister for Major Irrigation Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, MLA Tenali Shrawan Kumar and Rajahmundry MP M Murali Mohan In Thullur mandal, a section of the farmers questioned the members to explain as to why the government had failed to deliver on its promise to write off farm loans. “Do not try to take us for a ride again,” a farmer said. Some farmers, however, said they were willing to surrender their lands to the government.
The members faced adversity in Tadepalli mandal too. The farmers in Undavalli village told them bluntly that they would not part even with an inch of land. The value of their lands had exceeded Rs 1 crore an acre even before the government declared its decision to build capital city between Vijayawada and Guntur, the farmers said. “If the government tries to grab our lands, we will stage a revolt,” the farmers told the members.
The members were in for a rude shock at a meeting in Lingayyapalem village under Thullur mandal when the farmers bombarded them with questions. “Why the government is intending to build capital city on lush green fields,” they asked. They demanded that the government enter into legal agreement with the farmers, whoever was willing to part with their lands. The farmers sounded sceptical of government’s assurances.
A tenant farmer M Sreenivasa Rao, speaking on behalf of the tenant farmers, demanded that the government come out with a plan to help tenant farmers and farm labourers. Of total 500 people attended the meeting, only 50 of them were landowners and the rest of them were either tenant farmers or farm labourers, he said.
Rajahmundry Mp Murali Mohan tried to pacify the farmers by telling them that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu would allay the fears being entertained by the farmers on his return from Singapore.
