Benefits for farmers at stake, says KTR in open letter to ryots
In an open letter to Telangana farmers, Rama Rao criticized the Congress government's approach to farmer insurance, accusing it of implementing policies that would restrict full coverage and leave many farmers unsupported for crop investments. He urged farmers to remain alert and actively protest these measures, warning that inaction could result in losing critical insurance benefits and facing severe financial challenges.
Hyderabad: Pointing out that the Congress government was making deceptive moves to dilute the Rythu Bharosa scheme, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao on Sunday made a passionate appeal to the farming community, urging them to fight back what he described as fraudulent attempts to evade farmers of their due. In a strongly worded open letter, he called upon the farmers in Telangana to unite and beat back the deceptive moves to dilute the Rythu Bharosa scheme. Pointing out that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had avoided critical questions on the scheme during the recent assembly session, Rama Rao said instead of addressing the concerns of farmers, Revanth Reddy had diverted the discussion to irrelevant issues to evade accountability. He expressed concern over the Congress government’s plans to align Rythu Bharosa with the central PM-Kisan guidelines, which, he said, would exclude over half of Telangana’s farmers from receiving benefits.
“This is a deliberate attempt to cut benefits and betray the farming community,” he said, sounding a caution to farmers to be vigilant and protest the new guidelines being laid down for restricting the investment support. He stressed that the if they did not act now, they would be left without insurance and face serious hardships.
Highlighting the achievements of the previous BRS government under K. Chandrashekhar Rao, he said Rythu Bandhu had revolutionized Telangana’s agriculture sector, turning farming into the most remunerative activity. Over Rs.73,000 crore was credited directly to farmers’ accounts across 11 seasons, ensuring transparency and eliminating corruption. He also pointed out that Rs.28,000 crore was allocated for loan waivers, resulting in nearly Rs 1 lakh crore being pumped into the hands of farmers to rejuvenate agriculture in the State.
Criticising the Congress for failing to fulfill its pre-election promise of Rs.15,000 per acre annually under Rythu Bharosa, he said it was a year since the promise, but instead of delivering, the Congress government had slashed the amount and imposed unnecessary conditions, betraying the farmers once again. Dismissing Congress’ allegations that funds from Rythu Bandhu were diverted to real estate as baseless propaganda aimed at discrediting farmers and the previous government’s initiatives, Rama Rao urged farmers across Telangana to rise against what he called Congress’ duplicity.
“Question their broken promises, challenge their leaders in your villages, and demand accountability. Farmers must unite to protect their rights and ensure that no injustice is done to them,” he stated, concluding the open letter with a call to farmers to reject the attempts of the Congress to dismantle the support systems provided by the BRS government.
“Let’s protect the shields of support under KCR’s leadership and resist Congress’ betrayal,” he asserted, stressing that the Congress government strategy would leave many farmers without necessary support for crop investment.
