BJP’s anti farmer policies exposed yet again, says Palla

The Rythu Bandhu Samithi chairman said that the BJP showed the true colours towards farmers’ welfare by cutting the number of beneficiaries under the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana scheme from 11.5 crore to 3.5 crore.

Hyderabad: At a time when the State government was successfully implementing Rythu Bandhu scheme, the BJP government was scrapping the PM Kisan programme, besides seeking refund of installments from farmers, Rythu Bandhu Samithi chairman Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said here on Tuesday.

Copying Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu scheme, the BJP government had launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana scheme in February 2019 to derive political mileage. However, within two years, the true colours of the BJP government towards farmers’ welfare has surfaced. The number of beneficiaries under the scheme was being cut gradually from 11.5 crore to 3.5 crore, he said.

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In the guise of ineligibility, the number of beneficiaries was being slashed, citing different reasons, including payment of income tax, all institutional land holders, former and present holders of constitutional posts, professionals like doctors, engineers, lawyers and others, retired pensioners drawing monthly pension of Rs.10,000 and above.

More so, all the ‘ineligible’ farmers were being asked to refund the installment received under the PM Kisan scheme. Towards this, a special bank account was created, he said.

There was a substantial decline in the number of beneficiaries in several States. In Maharashtra it declined by 65.9 per cent, Madhya Pradesh (99.9 per cent), Bihar (91.8 per cent), Gujarat (55 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (49.4 percent), Tamil Nadu (50 per cent) and Chattisgarh (94.7 percent), he claimed.

Farmers in Uttar Pradesh hit the streets demanding the government to scrap its anti-farmer policies. In Maharashtra during the last six months, 1800 farmers had committed suicide, he pointed out.

“While the Modi government is installing meters to pumpsets, Telangana government is supplying free power to farmers. This is commitment of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao,” Reddy said, adding that support would be extended to the Samyuktha Kisan Morcha’s protest.