In a major move, the Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday announced that it had decided to disburse an ex-gratia of Rs 7 lakh as compensation to the families of farmers who had killed themselves in the state, over the last five years.
Between 2014 and 2019, as many as 1,513 farmers had killed themselves, but only 391 families had got compensation, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said at a review meeting on Wednesday. The state government announced immediate compensation to the families of these farmers. The Chief Minister told District Collectors and SPs that the figures of the farmer suicides were from the District Crime Records Bureau.
The Chief Minister has asked officials to collect data from their respective districts and ensure that the compensation of Rs 7 lakh is paid to all the families who lost their breadwinner, due to loss of crops, failure to get loans, indebtedness and other issues, after due identification.
The Collectors should respond immediately to the issue of farmers and tenant farmers to infuse confidence among them, said Jagan.
"Governance should progress on humanitarian grounds with welfare as the goal and there should not be any complaints on the ex-gratia issue," a press release from the Chief Minister's Office quoted Jagan as saying.
Continuing the drive against corruption, the Chief Minister said that it should percolate to the lower rungs of bureaucracy and wanted to see a positive update in two to three months.
The press release also stated that 'Spandana', a greivance redressal attempt by the state government, saw an overwhelming response.
"We have received over 4,400 applications during the first 'Spandana' and we have committed to clear the issues within a week’s time. This should be taken into consideration while expediting the papers. The human angle and practical approach should also be kept in mind while clearing the complaints as we cannot expect the general public to have official data or other such proofs," Jagan said.
The officials informed him that most of the complaints during 'Spandana' pertained to pensions, housing and ration cards.
Every district will be given Rs 15 crore for increasing amenities in hostels and Collectors should have the data beforehand before conducting surprise checks, Jagan said.