AMARAVATI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has kept his promise in support of the families of farmers who have committed suicide in the past. The government on Tuesday has launched a program to provide financial assistance of Rs 7 Lakhs to more than 417 farmer families who committed suicide between 2014 and May 2019 during the former chief mister N Chandrababu Naidu's time.

YS Jagan announced Rs 7 lakh as compensation to families of farmers who committed suicide in the last five year during a meeting in July last year. He said "governance with a humanitarian approach" will be the focus at all times.

The Collectors of the respective districts are distributing these checks as per the list of beneficiaries provided by the Agriculture department. Accordingly, 210 families are being given an exgratia of Rs. 7 lakhs per family in the first round. The state government is allocating Rs 100 crore annually for the compensation amount and as part of this, the government has recently released Rs 35.55 crore.

State Agriculture Minister Kannababu said the YSRCP government has introduced many welfare schemes to boost the morale of the farmers including the YSR Rythu Bharosa scheme, free insurance on the crop, and price stabilization fund. This would not only increase the confidence in the farmers, but will also reduce the rate of suicides, he said. The scheme implementation was already showing results, he expressed confidently. He also clarified that if there were anymore eligible beneficiaries to be compensated, they would also be provided aid, he asserted.

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