The Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) and opposition parties will conduct protests in villages across the state on 3 October against the implementation of a government order which proposes to constitute farmer coordination committees with nominated members
Stating that the committees—called Rythu Samanvaya Samithis—will be used by the ruling TRS to nominate people affiliated to the party, TJAC chairman Prof. M. Kodandaram said, “The protests will be held in every village. These committees will be used to decide issues pertaining to farmers. But the constitution says that these powers must be given to the Gram Panchayats.”
The TJAC was floated towards the end of 2009 as a vehicle for all political leaders who supported Telangana’s statehood to work together and achieve their goal. Prof. Kodandaram was earlier its convenor and later chairman. After the state’s formation in 2014, it became an apolitical body but Prof. Kodandaram then trained his guns on the TRS government over a host of issues. This is one of the few times when political parties have once again joined hands with the TJAC post the state’s formation in 2014.
Kodandaram pointed out that Gram Panchayats and other village-level institutions exist to decide on farmer-related issues. As of now, all opposition political parties, including the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have decided to stand together and protest against the government order, GO 39.
GO 39, passed a few weeks ago, has drawn a lot of criticism from opposition parties and been challenged in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana high court in Hyderabad.
Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced the formation of these committees in May after angry chilli farmers ransacked the Khammam agricultural market yard owing to the price of chilli crashing by nearly Rs10,000 this year. Rao had said that Rs500 crore would be given to the committees to tackle such situations.
