Distress grips every section of society in Telangana under Congress rule
Telangana is witnessing rising distress among farmers, weavers, auto drivers, and students under Congress rule, with hundreds of reported deaths in the past 22 months. Critics allege delays in welfare schemes and poor crisis management are worsening livelihoods and pushing communities into despair.
Hyderabad: A grim pattern has taken hold across Telangana under the Congress rule. Farmers, weavers, auto drivers and even students are turning to suicide. While comprehensive Statewide figures for 2024–25 are yet to be published, incident-led reporting shows a clear rise in lethal distress and a paper trail of red flags the Congress government has failed to heed.
Since December 2023, what was promised to be a new chapter of growth by the Congress has instead become a season of despair, and the government stands accused of apathy and drift.
Farmers are once again queuing up for urea, a scene reminiscent of pre-2015, before BRS stabilised input delivery. According to field reports, 376 farmers died by suicide in 2024 alone, taking the toll to around 470 in just 22 months of Congress governance. A majority of these suicides have the same reason – debts, which reportedly increased due to the delayed Rythu Bharosa, prompting them to obtain loans from moneylenders. This was coupled with a lack of support in terms of the supply of power, water and fertilisers, apart from the government’s failure to ensure remunerative income.
In contrast, NCRB data showed that farmer suicides dropped by nearly 687 per cent between 2015 and 2022 under former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, with 178 suicides reported in 2022. Initiatives like Rythu Bandhu, irrigation projects, and procurement support gave cultivators a safety net and remunerative income, which in turn reduced suicides.
The tragedy does not stop at the fields. In Sircilla alone, over 43 weavers have ended their lives in 20 months, their looms silenced by the absence of government orders. Under BRS, Bathukamma sarees and state contracts kept looms alive. They were deprived of the financial assistance under Nethannaku Cheyutha, implemented by the previous BRS regime.
Hit hard by the Congress government’s Mahalakshmi free bus scheme, auto-rickshaw drivers are another casualty. Since December 2023, over 120 people have died by suicide, trapped between shrinking incomes and mounting loan repayments.
The Congress’s promised aid of Rs 12,000 a year and accidental insurance remains undelivered.
Even education, Telangana’s ladder of hope, is failing its children. At least 10 suicides in government residential schools since June this year. More than 90 students have died in multiple government residential schools and hostels since January last year. Of this, around 40 have died by suicide and the remaining died due to food poisoning and other health-related issues. The officials are attributing these suicides to growing mental health stress and poor conditions in hostels, but no major efforts are being made to ease it for students.
While the Congress leaders are busy with probes against the opposition and carrying out vendetta politics, everyday life is collapsing for citizens. Where BRS built buffers, Congress has allowed them to rot. Where K Chandrashekhar Rao fought for farmers and weavers, Revanth Reddy dismisses their cries as social media noise.
If this drift continues, Telangana will be risking not just economic pain but a collapse on all fronts. Under BRS, subsidies, welfare, and sector-specific interventions softened shocks. Today, those cushions are gone. Unless the government takes immediate measures, the crisis is only likely to deepen.
