Harish Rao demands immediate release of Rs 1,161 crore towards paddy bonus

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Hyderabad: Former Minister and senior BRS leader T Harish Rao lashed out at the Congress government for its failure to release Rs. 1,161 crore towards the paddy purchase bonus and pending payments for sunflower crop procurement. He demanded the immediate release of the bonus to paddy farmers and the overdue payments to sunflower farmers.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Harish Rao said the much-publicised Rs. 500 bonus per tonne of fine variety paddy has turned out to be bogus. He stated that even after procuring 23.22 lakh tonnes of paddy from 4.01 lakh farmers during the Yasangi (Rabi) season, the government has not released the Rs. 1,161 crore bonus it had promised.

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“Two months have passed, and not a single rupee has been credited,” he said, ridiculing Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s claim of making payments within 48 hours of procurement.

He further stated that sunflower farmers have not received payments even 75 days after procurement, calling the government’s negligence towards farmers “shameful.” In Siddipet district alone, 50 percent of farmers are still awaiting payment, he added.

The BRS leader also criticised the government for failing to deliver on multiple promises.

“Less than 50 percent of farmers have benefited from the loan waiver, and the Rythu Bharosa support was slashed from the promised Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 12,000, with tenant farmers left out. It has become a habit for the Congress to deceive farmers with false promises,” he said.