Neeru Chettu In AP A Big Scam 

Chendurthi Cross, East Godavari District: I met hundreds of brothers, sisters and key people from the Kapu community this morning. I was touched by their love and affection towards me and I began today's padayatra on that note. In this district, the number of tenant farmers is among the highest in the state.

Today, I witnessed yet another tragic incident that happened to a family. Nookaratnam, a woman from Mallavaram, and her son Shyam Babu, started weeping when they met me. Nookaratnam's husband, Jogiraju, used to have a little farm in the village, and in addition to that he had leased out some other land for farming. The man who has two daughters and a son, sold one acre of his land to marry his daughters off. With the remaining land he was left with, he had planted crops by mortgaging the land and some gold jewellery. At this juncture, Chandrababu's loan waiver promise gave him some hope. But, after Chandrababu came to power, the Hudhud cyclone completely destroyed his crop, and he had hoped for the government's damage compensation, which was not given. Jogiraju had high hopes of Chandrababu's loan waiver which he promised prior to the elections. However, Chandrababu betrayed the entire farmer community. Unable to bear the losses and pay his debts, a depressed Jogiraju committed suicide, leaving his family in dire straits. Is Chandrababu not responsible for hundreds of farmer deaths?

Also Read: Kapu Community Praises YS Jagan’s Sincerity

Villagers from Thatiparthi came to me to complain about the irregularities under the 'Neeru-Chettu' program in the Kodandaramuni river. They said that the Telugu Desam Party leaders had dug out huge quantities of sand and gravel, only to make crores of rupees in the name of Neeru-Chettu. Chandrababu inaugurated the program at Chebrolu, at a place close by. By doing so, the AP CM has given official rights to the ruling party members to destroy our natural resources. In this constituency, more than 25 rivers have been destroyed under the program.

Under the Neeru-Chettu program, TDP leaders would get bills for the sand, and also for the rural employment scheme. And they won’t stop with that. They will show the same work to get bills from the Irrigation department in the name of river rejuvenation. Such is the level of corruption in the TDP government.

I have a question for the Chief Minister—The state government has billed Neeru-Chettu program to the tune of Rs 13,859 crores until now. Has the government provided additional irrigation waters to at least one acre of land under the scheme? Moreover, hasn’t the program damaged the existing irrigation ecosystem? Is it not true that the TDP leaders made money to the tune of Rs 12,000 crores by selling sand and gravel from the rivers? Is it not true that the Neeru-Chettu program destroyed thousands of rivers across the state?