KTR accuses Revanth Reddy govt of criminal neglect amid procurement crisis

BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao accused the Telangana government of failing farmers during the ongoing procurement crisis and demanded Rs 25 lakh compensation for families of deceased farmers, besides immediate corrective measures at the Cabinet meeting scheduled on May 23.

Hyderabad: BRS working president K T Rama Rao launched a blistering attack on the Revanth Reddy government for criminal neglect of farmers amid the ongoing crop procurement crisis. He demanded that the Cabinet meeting scheduled for May 23 be used to announce immediate corrective measures, apart from Rs 25 lakh compensation to the deceased farmers.

In an open letter to the Chief Minister, Rama Rao alleged that farmers across Telangana had been waiting at procurement centres for nearly two months without their produce being lifted, with no weighing infrastructure, no gunny bags, and no government official in sight. “There is not a single farmer in the State who has not taken to the streets, and not a single highway where a rasta roko has not taken place. The farmers who are cursing you today will deliver a severe political blow tomorrow,” he said.

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The BRS working president said nearly 10 farmers had died at procurement centres due to scorching heat, exhaustion and distress, while several others were allegedly forced to burn their harvested crop in despair. He demanded that the Chief Minister announce Rs 25 lakh compensation to each bereaved family.

“Burning crop heaps on Telangana’s roads serve as irrefutable evidence of this government’s incompetence. Will you not wake up even as farmers lose their lives and set fire to their own crops?” he asked.

Targeting Revanth Reddy, Rama Rao reminded that the Chief Minister made over 70 trips to Delhi to protect his political position but had not visited a single procurement centre in last two months. “Had you devoted even one per cent of that energy to farmers’ welfare, this situation would never have arisen,” he wrote.

He accused the Congress government of dismantling farmer welfare mechanisms introduced during the previous BRS regime, and failing to conduct procurement operations effectively despite the harvest season beginning nearly two months ago.

The BRS leader pointed to systemic failures across the procurement chain including centres in districts from Warangal to Khammam failing to lift even one truckload per day, over 10 kg of arbitrary weight deductions at each centre, and farmers being charged Rs 50 as deposit for a single gunny bag. He said the government had defaulted on investment support for four consecutive crop cycles and created artificial urea shortages, yet farmers had endured and cultivated, only to find no buyer after harvest.

Contrasting the current situation with the BRS regime, Rama Rao said crop procurement under K Chandrashekhar Rao was planned three months in advance, with gunny bag supply, payment timelines, and field reviews monitored continuously. He reminded that even during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials visited threshing floors to procure paddy directly.

He accused the government of prioritising political survival and publicity over agriculture, alleging that ministers were avoiding farmers’ protests while focusing on events and tours.

Rama Rao demanded immediate intervention of the Chief Minister and ensure that the Cabinet meeting to procure all pending stocks at thousands of centres across the State and credit farmers with the full value of their produce. “If you cannot manage even crop procurement, offer an unconditional apology to Telangana’s farmers. Otherwise, your government will go down in history as the greatest betrayer of the farming community,” he wrote.