Get rain relief fund from Centre, Harish Rao tells State BJP leaders

T Harish Rao has dared the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Telangana to pursue the Centre to grant a relief amount of Rs 10,000 per acre

Siddipet: Finance Minister T Harish Rao has dared the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Telangana to pursue the Centre to grant a relief amount of Rs 10,000 per acre so that farmers of Telangana get double benefit.

Addressing farmers after distributing sprinklers at the Agriculture Market in Siddipet on Sunday, the Minister said the BJP leaders were criticising the State government even though Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had announced a relief of Rs.10,000 per acre after the crop damage caused by untimely rains.

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Saying that the BJP was never concerned about the welfare of farmers, Rao said over 800 farmers had died while protesting against the three farmers’ bills enacted by the Centre.

The Telangana government, on the other hand, had set an example in supporting the farmer’s fraternity by introducing Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, 24X7 electricity supply and other welfare schemes.

With all the support, Telangana’s farmers had cultivated paddy on 56 lakh acres while the rest of India cultivated paddy on 41 lakh acres.

Hailing the Chief Minister as the modern-era Bhagiratha, the Minister said increased irrigation of crops was due to the completion of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).

As Telangana underwent a revolutionary transformation in the last nine years, Rao said labourers from many States were migrating to Telangana to find work even in agriculture fields.

Stating that the opposition party leaders were alleging that the Godavari water was not being released into canals, he said they would experience the flow of the water only if they were dipped in the KLIS canals.