Harish Rao questions Congress govt over crop insurance, urea shortage

Former Minister T Harish Rao criticised the Congress government for failing to implement the crop insurance scheme for four consecutive seasons. He accused it of betraying farmers and ignoring key issues like urea supply, loan waivers and input subsidies.

Hyderabad: Former Minister and senior MLA T Harish Rao slammed the Congress government over its failure to to implement crop insurance scheme for four consecutive seasons. He said the government was repeatedly betraying farmers of Telangana without implementing its electoral promises.

Taking to X, Harish Rao said the Congress had made lofty promises, both in its Abhaya Hastam manifesto and Warangal Rythu Declaration, which had collapsed under the weight of inaction. He reminded that the government had also announced in all three budgets, including the Vote on Account, that the scheme would be implemented based on Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) data.

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“But all these promises were only on paper, and nothing has been implemented. Though Rs 1,300 crore was allocated for crop insurance in the budget, not a single rupee has reached the farmers,” he said.

The former Minister stated that even around 20 months after coming to power, the Congress government had not floated tenders in this regard. Stating that the government was cheating farmers on loan waivers, bonuses and input subsidies, Harish Rao also criticised the ongoing shortage of urea across Telangana, noting that farmers in Adilabad, Nizamabad, Kamareddy and Kumram Bheem Asifabad districts were forced to queue up at Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society offices for fertilisers.

“If the government spent half the energy on urea supply that it did on beauty pageants, farmers would not have to face this hardship,” he said.

He added that the Congress government had ignored key farmer assurances, from pending bonuses to incomplete loan waivers, and warned that unless corrective measures were taken, it would face the ire of farmers across the State.