Ryots' Commission chairman urges Centre to link NREGS with farm operations
Telangana Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Commission chairman M. Kodanda Reddy has urged Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to link the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) with agricultural work to support small and marginal farmers.
In a letter handed over personally during the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan in Hyderabad on Monday, Mr.Reddy said over 85% of India's farmers fall into the small and marginal category and face challenges like high input costs, lack of mechanisation and labour shortages during peak seasons.
Mr.Reddy, who held the agriculture portfolio in the Congress governments in combined Andhra Pradesh during 1989-94, said integrating MGNREGS with farming could ease the labour cost burden and ensure timely operations such as sowing, weeding, harvesting and post-harvest activities. The move would also provide meaningful employment and skill development for MGNREGS workers, while promoting small tools and suitable mechanisation through a dedicated scheme.
In a separate letter, he requested Central funding for the revival of Telangana's minor irrigation tanks under schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (per drop more crop), the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, or a special package for restoration of water bodies.
Minister for Agriculture Tummala Nageswara Rao also submitted letters to the Union Minister, seeking a regional office of the Coconut Development Board in Telangana, empanelment of oil palm nursery suppliers, a minimum price of ₹25,000 per tonne for oil palm bunches, a review of import duty cuts on crude edible oil and ₹100 crore for the State's horticultural university.
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