Once neighbour’s envy, Telangana’s farmers now in crisis

Nothing big happened to change their destiny. Just one change in government. From the BRS, the Congress took over, and the downslide of farmers’ fortunes began.

Hyderabad: It was barely a year ago that farmers in Maharashtra, Karnataka and other States staged protests demanding their governments to replicate 24×7 power supply, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima and similar schemes from Telangana to help them. In Maharashtra, farmer rights activist Vinayakrao Patil had even staged a hunger strike demanding the Telangana Model for Maharashtra’s farmers, prompting the then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to announce a committee to examine the feasibility of the model there. However, for farmers in Telangana, who held their heads high as their counterparts in other States envied them, all those days now feel like from another era.

For them, erratic power supply, a complete absence of any financial assistance from the government for two consecutive seasons, protests for water for cultivation, fertilizers, seeds and even procurement of their crops have become the order of the day, a far cry from when many repeatedly said ‘farmer is truly king in Telangana’.

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Nothing big happened to change their destiny. Just one change in government. From the BRS, the Congress took over, and the downslide of farmers’ fortunes began.

For the first time after formation of Telangana, a crop holiday was declared for the left canal of the Nagarjuna Sagar Project for the Yasangi season in December 2023 due to non-availability of water. Since then, misery has come in train loads. In the January – March season this year, many farmers in Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar and other districts were forced to rely on water tankers to save their standing crops, especially paddy. This was an alien practice in the last 10 years in Telangana. Shelling exorbitant prices ranging from Rs.2000 to Rs.2500 for private tankers, the farmers had to arrange them to save their crops. About 15 tankers were required to supply sufficient water to one acre. As a result, the input cost increased considerably for farmers.

To make matters worse, erratic power supply in the summer season made things even tougher for farmers as they had to carry agricultural motor pumps to workshops for repairs. Apart from affecting water supply to their fields, frequent repairs of motor pumps resulted in additional costs for farmers. Scenes of farmers crying inconsolably looking at their parched lands and withered crops, which were witnessed in the Telangana region only before 2014, resurfaced in the State.

Salt in the wound

Rubbing salt into their wounds, the Rythu Bandhu scheme, which was hailed by farmers across the country, was not implemented by the Congress government, pushing the farming community into deeper financial crisis. During the elections, Congress had promised to extend Rs.15,000 per acre for farmers and Rs.12,000 per acre to tenant farmers as well. But these promises remain confined to papers even after a year. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has now assured that the scheme would be implemented after the Sankranti festival. However, farmers see this as another promise made with an eye on the forthcoming local body elections.

Crop loan waiver, another failed initiative

To divert the attention of the farmers and opposition parties from the crisis, the State government had announced the Crop Loan Waiver scheme. Initially, the government had announced that all crop loans would be waived before August 15. However, apart from missing the deadline, the government limited the scheme to loans of up to Rs.2 lakh. Even the loans of many farmers under Rs.2 lakh were not waived and ryots are running from pillar to post to get their loans waived, besides staging protests across the State. Not to mention about the plight of farmers who secured loans above Rs.2 lakh. Amidst these protests, the Chief Minister last month claimed that waiver of crop loans up to Rs.2 lakh were completed 100 percent.

Acquisition of lands trigger more protest

As if all this was not enough, the State government is now bent upon acquiring farmers’ lands at a few places for different purposes. Raising a vociferous voice against the government, farmers have been staging protests. In Kodangal, the Chief Minister’s constituency, tribal farmers in Lagacherla, Rotibhanda Thanda and neighbouring villages have been opposing land acquisition for a pharma village. Similarly, their counterparts in Yadadri-Bhongir are up in arms against the establishment of the Adani Ambuja Cement factory at Ramannapet. Farmers in Kandukur, Gajulaburj Thanda, Agarmiyaguda and neighbouring villages in Rangareddy district have been vehemently objecting acquisition of their lands for laying roads to the proposed Fourth City.

Turning a blind eye to these protests, the Chief Minister has kept repeating that a few people would have to suffer and lose lands to facilitate development in the State.