Rising fuel prices rattling farmers: Harish Rao

Says Rs 3,000 extra burden being imposed as input costs of farm operations have increased

Karimnagar: Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Sunday said farmers were forced to cough up an additional Rs 3,000 on each acre for cultivation on account of the increase in prices of diesel and petrol.

“Not satisfied with this move, the BJP government at the Centre is also conspiring to fix meters on agricultural pump sets to record the power consumption by farmers. Not only petrol and diesel, but prices of all essential commodities will also go up further if the BJP is elected in Huzurabad Assembly by-election,” the Minister said.

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Dismissing the Congress as a party of no consequence, Harish said the fight in Huzurabad by-poll was essentially between the ruling TRS and BJP. “People should decide whether they want to support Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao who has been giving Rs one lakh for the marriage of girls from poor families under Kalyana Lakshmi and Shadhi Mubaarak scheme or the BJP which has been giving wall clocks, sewing machines and grinders to woo the voters in the constituency,” he said.

Harish Rao was speaking after laying the foundation stone for Munnurukapu Bhavan here in the presence of BC Welfare and Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar.

Speaking on the occasion, the Minister urged the people to introspect whether the lives of farmers have changed after the State formation. Besides the 24-hour power supply, sufficient irrigation water was being supplied to the agriculture sector, he pointed out.

“Out of 28 States, the BJP is in power in 18 States. Is any BJP government supplying free power to farmers in the country?” He questioned and said the TRS will stop its campaign in Huzurabad if it is proved that a BJP-ruled State was supplying round-the-clock free power.

While the Telangana government was spending Rs 12,000 crore for the supply of 24-hour electricity per year, the BJP-led Central government was insisting on a power audit and trying to record current consumption by fixing meters. Farmers will have to face severe hardships if meters are fixed to agricultural pump sets, he noted.

Earlier, domestic or cooking gas used to be supplied on subsidy. Later, the Union government had promised to deposit a subsidy amount in the bank accounts of consumers. However, the subsidy has been reduced to Rs 40 from Rs 250. At the same time, the price of a gas cylinder has been enhanced to Rs 1,000 from Rs 410, the Minister said.

He said, while the TRS government was taking steps to protect government companies such as TSRTC by allocating special funds, the Union government was conspiring to abolish reservations by selling public sector undertakings (PSUs). So, people should decide whether they want to support BJP or TRS, he said and appealed to the people to support the TRS party which is thinking for future generations. Earlier, local people had given 43,000 majority to TRS party, he stressed and sought 50,000 majority this time around.

The Finance Minister promised to sanction money to construct double bedroom houses to the people who have their own house site apart from providing houses to the poor by completing incomplete construction works.

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