Alleging a major conspiracy to divert dairy farmers from the State-owned Vijaya Dairy to Heritage, which is planning to invest Rs.204 crore in Telangana, BRS leader and former Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy feared that it might spell doom for the dairy industry in the State.
Addressing a news conference at Telangana Bhavan on Saturday, Reddy, along with other BRS leaders, highlighted the mounting unpaid dues to dairy farmers by Vijaya Dairy over the last three months. Reddy pointed out that dairy farmers were protesting due to the delayed payments, yet no Minister had addressed their concerns. He questioned how Vijaya Dairy, which was profitable during the BRS regime, was now struggling to sustain itself.
The government, which has failed to fully implement the crop loan waiver and Rythu Bandhu schemes, is now set to let down farmers with inadequate crop insurance policies,” Reddy said, urging the government and the Agriculture Minister to study global policies and develop a robust crop insurance policy, noting that insurance companies rarely benefit farmers at a loss. Reddy criticized the current government for not compensating farmers for crop losses, despite being in power for nine months. He accused the government of coming to power with false promises and damaging the image of Hyderabad and Telangana with misleading initiatives like HYDRAA.
He also questioned why the pension scheme of Rs 4,000 per month, implemented in neighbouring States, was not being applied in Telangana. Former MP Badugula Lingaya Yadav and others were present.
