Telangana announces 3 lakh to families of 750 farmers who died in protest

Hyderabad: Telangana government announced Rs 3 lakh each as compensation to the families of 750 farmers who died during the 15-month long protest along Delhi borders against the three farm laws of the Union government, NDTV reported. On Saturday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) made the announcement and demanded the Union government to give Rs 25 lakh to those families and withdraw all the cases against the protesting farmers. KCR's call comes a day after PM Modi's announcement of repealing the laws.

KCR also demanded to bring a law on minimum support price in the winter session of the Parliament. The compensation will cost Telangana Rs 22.5 crore, the CM said. He requested farm union leaders to send details of those who died.

While speaking at a press meet on Saturday, KCR called for an annual procurement policy by the Food Corporation of India well in advance. The Union government should clarify the enhancement of paddy procurement for Kharif season as requested by his state and the purchase of boiled rice in Rabi season. Further, he demanded a caste-based census as per the resolution adopted by the state assembly and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendments Bill.

On Thursday, KCR had held a massive Dharna in Hyderabad on behalf of the paddy farmers in Telangana. He had declared that he would not shy away from donning a national leadership role on the farmer's issue, while his latest announcement seems the initial step in that direction. He said that before anything, the farmers of the country should be made 'aatmanirbhar'.