Hyderabad: Desperate farmers in Telangana’s Wanaparthy district pleaded to government officials on Wednesday, September 3, over the unavailability of urea.
A video shared on social media shows a few women farmers touching the feet of the government officials. “I am ready to touch your feet, sir. Please provide urea to us,” a woman appeals to an official.
Another video shows a farmer begging the officials.
Telangana is witnessing large-scale protests from frantic farmers over the urea shortage. Many are seen standing in front of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in long queues for hours.
On August 29, farmers held a sit-in protest in Siddipet district’s Gajwel, raising “CM Down Down” slogans. While in Medak, farmers placed footwear and stones in a queue while waiting for the centre to open.
The following day, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) held a protest at the Gunpark in Hyderabad over the same. MLAs T Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao (KTR) participated in the protest, raising slogans like, “Ganpati Bappa Morya. Kavalyya Urea (Ganpati Bappa Morya we want Urea)” against the government.
Telangana agriculture minister Thummala Nageswara Rao ensured that the state is set to receive 49,275 tonnes of urea from the Centre. The fresh consignment will be allocated to districts where the demand for fertiliser is the highest.
Additional 2.38 L tonnes requested from Centre
Minister Thummala also requested an additional 2.38 lakh (238,000) tonnes of urea from Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister JP Nadda. This request supplemented 1.5 lakh (150,000) tonnes of urea already approved for Telangana for September.
The state government hopes that the Centre will approve the extra allocation to provide a steady supply of fertiliser during peak agricultural season.
During a review meeting on August 29, minister Thummala stated that 21,325 tonnes of urea are expected to arrive within the next two days and another 27,950 tonnes in the first week of September.
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