New pension policy will come into force soon: Harish

Karimnagar: The State government’s new pension policy that will facilitate people who have crossed 57 years of age also to avail the monthly Rs 2,016 pension, would be implemented within the next couple of months, said Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Monday. “All arrangements have been made by the government machinery for the implementation […]

Karimnagar: The State government’s new pension policy that will facilitate people who have crossed 57 years of age also to avail the monthly Rs 2,016 pension, would be implemented within the next couple of months, said Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Monday. “All arrangements have been made by the government machinery for the implementation of the new policy,” he said.

Addressing an election campaign in Bothalapalli of Huzurabad mandal, the Minister said farmers were agitating against the farm laws enacted by the BJP government at the Centre.

---

Unfortunately, four farmers were mowed down by a BJP leader’s car in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, he said, adding: “People should decide whether they want to support the BJP, which was killing farmers or the TRS which was giving lift to farmers in its car (TRS party symbol).”

While the TRS was seeking votes from the public by explaining the developmental works carried out by the State government, BJP candidate Eatala Rajender was confining himself to criticising Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao instead of talking about what he had done for the constituency during his tenure as Minister.

The Minister noted that it was the TRS government that increased the pension amount to Rs 2,016 from Rs 200. To provide financial assistance for the marriage of daughters from poor families, the State government was providing Rs one lakh under Kalyana Lakshmi scheme. Besides Kalyana Lakshmi, Rs 12,000 was also being provided to lactating mothers under the KCR Kits scheme. BJP is in power in 18 States but no State was implementing such schemes across the country. And 60 years of struggle by farmers for water has been solved with the construction of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project,” he said.

“Earlier, crops used to wither due to lack of water and interrupted power supply in the Yasangi season. Electricity transformers and submersible motors used to burn frequently and farmers had to spend huge amounts on the repair of them,” he said.

However, the situation has changed after the formation of Telangana State. The issue of burning transformers and motors was overcome with the supply of 24 hours uninterrupted power supply. The Chief Minister has also abolished the water rate. The TRS government enhanced the dignity of farmers by providing Rs 10,000 as crop investment support under Rythu Bandhu scheme.

While the State government was providing all kinds of assistance to the farming community, the Central government was trying to impose a burden on farmers by fixing meters to agricultural pump sets. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has already started fixing meters. However, Chandrashekhar Rao refused to fix meters to agricultural pump sets.

How can Eatala, a failed Minister, fulfill promises?

All the Cabinet Ministers in the State have constructed double bedroom houses in their respective constituencies. But not a single house was constructed in Huzurabad. How Rajender, who failed to construct houses while continuing in the Minister post, could construct by sitting in opposition benches, he questioned.

Harish Rao promised to complete all houses by visiting Huzurabad every fortnight if TRS candidate Gellu Srinivas Yadav was elected in by-polls. Rs 5 lakh would be sanctioned to the people having their own house sites. However, people not having their own house sites would be constructed by the government.

Crop loan waiver after Ugadi

Talking about farm loan waiver, he admitted that waiver of farm loan was delayed due to the Covid pandemic. The loan amount between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh would be waived after Ugadi festival, he assured.

The paddy crop of Vaanakalam season was soaked due to continuous rainfall. Farmers need not worry about it since the State government would procure every grain produced by farmers by opening paddy procurement centers across the State, he promised.

The BJP leaders were trying to get benefit from this by-election by spreading wrong propaganda. The price of the domestic gas cylinder has been hiked to Rs 1,040. He wanted Rajender to reduce the price by convincing the Central Ministers. But there was no response from the BJP leader on the same, he said.

While Chandrashekhar Rao was giving Rs 5,000 per acre to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, the Union government was taking it away from farmers by increasing fuel prices, alleged the Minister. He appealed to the people to elect the TRS candidate by exercising their votes for the ‘car’ symbol on October 30.

---

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.

Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .

---