YSR Congress has said that the harvest festival of Sankranti has brought in gloom to farmers with the commercialization policy of the TDP Government and the Chandranna gift is laden with a scam running into crores of rupees and demanded a probe into the gift distribution scheme.

“There is more of publicity element in Chandranna Kanuka being given to farmers. As the package of Rs 220 worth groceries do not add up to the total amount of the scheme, in terms of market value, it leads to a big scam and demand that the Vigilance Department should probe into the irregularities,” Party MLA SV Mohan Reddy told reporters here on Monday.

The amount allocated to the groceries is scanty, while the sum spent on publicity is much more and the final beneficiaries in the Chandranna Kanuka scheme are TDP top leaders and their henchmen, he said adding that the commercial policies of the State has taken away the festive spirit from the farmers.

It is ironic that Chandrababu Naidu should be giving Sankranti gift after they were pushed into a debt trap as he did not honour the loan waiver promise. There are no festivities in the rural areas as farmers are deep in debts and have become defaulters and the women groups are not able to redeem the gold they have mortgaged.

Chandrababu Naidu is responsible for the situation as old loans are not cleared, new loans are not forthcoming, penal interest is being charged and farmers are approaching private money lenders who are charging exorbitant rate of interest.

TDP government has asked farmers in and around Thulluru mandal not take up any agricultural operations in over 40,000 acres from January which shows the commercialization approach of the Chandrababu Naidu and his attitude towards farmers and agriculture.

There are many more scams that would unfold in the land pooling and capital formation. One Singapore Company has initially quoted Rs 1,200 crores for the capital design. Now Chandrababu Naidu is saying that the Company is not charging any fees. This shows that there is a secret dealing and all scams will come into the open soon, he said.