Is it Justified for the ICFA to Award the Telangana CM the Agricultural Leadership Award, 2017

Despite a huge number of farmer’s suicides in the last three years in Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has been nominated for the Agriculture Leadership Award- 2017. He has been selected under the Policy leadership category by Indian Council of Food and Agriculture (ICFA). The award would be presented to Rao during 10th Global Agriculture Leadership Summit in New Delhi on September 5, 2017. The organizing committee of ICFA is comprised of MJ Khan, Prof. MS Swaminathan and Alok Sinha.

But before the CM is presented with the award, let’s take a look at a few reports on the agriculture status in Telangana.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2014, 898 farmers committed suicides in Telangana. This was the second-highest number of farmer suicides recorded in the country after Maharashtra.

Data put out by Rythu Swarajya Vedika, an NGO based in Hyderabad, has revealed that more than 3000 farmer suicides have occurred in Telangana since its inception. Between January and June this year, there were 294 suicides in the state.

In a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on State Finances, for the year 2015-16, it was exposed, that the state government has not disclosed the financial results for any of its irrigation projects, despite having largest irrigation projects in India.

The state’s opposition parties have ridiculed the ICFA committee’s choice for the award.

On August 20, in a press conference, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief spokesperson Dasoju Sravan said “The Chief Minister does not deserve any award for his services to the agriculture sector. Not a single family of those who committed suicide got compensation under Government Order 421. Lakhs of farmers lost three consecutive crops due to the negligence of the State Government and adverse weather conditions”.

“In last crop season, farmers could not get proper remuneration for their produce and when some chilli farmers of Khammam protested, they were arrested. Farmers were brutally when they protested against erratic power supply. Many farmers are protesting against the forceful acquisition of land in various regions of the state,” he pointed out.