Telangana govt will stand by farmers during drought conditions: CM Revanth Reddy

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday said his government will stand by the farmers in the prevailing drought conditions in the state.Speaking after inaugurating a programme here to link the ‘Rythu Vedikas’ (exclusive places where farmers meet) in the state through video-conferencing, he called for collective efforts to face the present drought conditions.

He said that water shortage is acute at various places as water levels in reservoirs are declining quickly due to inadequate rainfall in the last one year.Observing that farmers and leaders from Karimnagar, Khammam, Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts are demanding release of water from reservoirs, an official release quoted him as saying that the farmers need to understand the situation.

The government is making all efforts to ensure that drinking water problems don’t crop up during the upcoming summer, Reddy said.Farmers would get timely advice, as per the ‘Rythu Nestham’ programme, on the problems faced by them, he said.

Under the ‘Rythu Nestham’ initiative, the 2,601 ‘Rythu Vedikas’ in the state would be linked through video-conferencing in three years at an expenditure of Rs 97 crores.Agriculture scientists and officials would attend the video-conferences with farmers and provide advice to their problems.

The ryots can share their experiences with others through the digital platform, the release said.In the first phase, the government released Rs 4.07 crore for setting up the video-conferencing facility in 110 assembly constituencies (out of the total 119), the release said.

The state agriculture department has taken up the programme with the help of the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University, it added.