KADAPA: Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance Sonia Gandhi asked Congress-ruled State Governments on Wednesday to shift to a higher gear their agrarian development policies by giving thrust to irrigation projects. In this endeavour, they should properly address land-related issues, she said.

Emphasising the need for comprehensive development of the agriculture sector, she said suicides by farmers were distressing. "Two years ago, the suicide rate among farmers was much higher in Andhra Pradesh but it has come down due to the State Government's pro-farmer policies," she said.

`Jalayagnam', the irrigation programme undertaken in the State, and the effective implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGP), had made the difference. Other Governments could do well to emulate these programmes, she said asking them to chalk out a new course of priorities pegged to the irrigation projects. She took a dig at the erstwhile Telugu Desam Government saying that it had neglected the agriculture sector.

She promised `major financial assistance' from the Centre to Andhra Pradesh to arrest the farm sector crisis in 16 districts. Noting that substantial quantity of river water was flowing waste into the sea, she said it was the duty of the Governments to conserve it for irrigation.

Massive rally

Ms. Gandhi was addressing a massive rally after inaugurating the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), a 750-bed multi-speciality teaching hospital, built in 15 months by the Government at a cost of Rs. 125 crore. Crowds packed the sprawling ground to capacity giving the police a tough time. Train movement was disrupted as people squatted on the nearby railway track. She asserted that the hospital was proof of the UPA 's commitment to providing quality public health.

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