Harish Rao says Congress owes farmers Rs 29,300 crore under Rythu Bharosa

BRS leader T Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government owed Telangana farmers Rs 29,300 crore under the Rythu Bharosa scheme and failed to fulfil several election promises. He demanded a timeline for clearing dues and criticised the government's agricultural policies.

Mahabubnagar: Mounting a sharp attack on the Congress government over the implementation of the Rythu Bharosa scheme, BRS Legislature Party deputy leader T Harish Rao said it had defaulted on Rs 29,300 crore in investment support promised to farmers. He demanded a clear timeline for clearing the dues.

Addressing a meeting of BRS cadre as part of the party’s membership enrolment and SIR awareness programme in Jadcherla on Tuesday, Harish Rao said the proposed Rythu Ashirvada Sabha organised by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad should instead be called a “Rythu Vanchana Sabha” (farmers’ betrayal meeting). He said the Congress government had failed to honour its election promise of providing Rs 15,000 per acre annually under Rythu Bharosa and had instead reduced the benefit to Rs 12,000.

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He said even that amount was not paid uniformly, with assistance restricted to a limited extent of land during successive cropping seasons. “By the government’s own calculations, Rs 29,300 crore remains due to Telangana farmers under Rythu Bharosa,” he said, demanding that the Chief Minister announce when the pending amount would be credited to beneficiaries.

Comparing it with the previous BRS government, Harish Rao said the K Chandrashekhar Rao government transferred Rs 73,000 crore to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu scheme in 11 consecutive instalments without interruption, even during the COVID-19 pandemic and drought years. In contrast, the Congress government skipped assistance for three cropping seasons after assuming office, he observed.

The senior BRS leader also accused the government of failing to complete its promised farm loan waiver, ensure timely fertiliser availability and procure paddy adequately. He questioned the State government’s decision to restrict paddy procurement to the quantity procured by the Centre, asking about the fate of the remaining produce.

Harish Rao criticised the Congress government for diluting its promise of a bonus for all paddy varieties and criticised the proposed Rythu DISCOM, stating that it could eventually phase out 24-hour free power supply to the agriculture sector. He also alleged that the Rythu Bima insurance scheme had remained non-functional for several months, leaving over 7,600 bereaved farming families awaiting benefits.

The former Minister accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil commitments on fee reimbursement, pensions and welfare programmes, while spending lavishly on beauty pageants, football exhibition matches and helicopter rides. He said that while major irrigation projects completed during the BRS regime had transformed Palamuru from a migration-prone region into an irrigated agricultural belt, the present Congress regime had failed to create fresh ayacut of even an acre.

“While neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are constructing new projects and threatening our river water rights, Revanth Reddy has remained silent,” he said. Calling upon party workers to take the government’s unfulfilled promises and alleged scams to every village, he exuded confidence that the BRS would return to power and win all 14 Assembly seats in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district.