In a move which has raised many an eyebrows, the Telangana Government has decided to send four MlAs of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti to Israel to attend an agriculture exhibition declaring them to be “progressive farmers”.
The eight-member official delegation also includes P Bhaskar Reddy, the son of State Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, again as a progressive farmer and chairman of Primary Agriculture Committee.
What could have been good learning experience for farmers has now turned into a leisure tour of leaders and officials as not one ordinary farmer was included in the team.
The list of the eight members visiting Tel Aviv was released by the State Agriculture department and the travel expenses will be borne by the State Agriculture University.
The four TRS MlAs going on the junket include E Ravinder Reddy, G Kamalakar, K Vidyasgar Rao and D ManoharRdddy. None of them have anything to do with farming but apparently they were labeled as progressive farmers to facilitate their inclusion in the delegation.
The other members of the delegation include G Mohan Reddy, personal assistant to agriculture minister, and two other officials.
Agri Tech 2015 was being held in Israel capital from October 27 to 30 but the delegation will be in Israel till May 4.