KTR fires on the attitude of the Congress government
RSD-Hyderabad news: CM Revanth Reddy, as a witness in the assembly, gave wrong calculations on loan waivers, farmer assurance and also on the suicides of food grains farmers, said BRS Working President, former minister and MLA KTR. If the Congress government intends to give the Rythu Bandhu implemented by the BRS government as it is, and has no intention of making cuts, then why is there a discussion in the Assembly? He questioned. KTR spoke at a media point after the short-term discussion on Rythu Bharosa in the Assembly on 21.12.2024. He said that there is concern among farmers about Rythu Bandhu, and whether it will be given for three crops or not? He demanded clarification, and for how many crops will Rythu Bandhu be given to tribal farmers with ROFR pattas. He demanded that Rythu Bandhu be given for three crops as per the promise made by the Congress. ‘In Bhu Bharati, the experience of the tenant farmers has been given a time limit. They said that they will implement Rythu Bharosa for tenant farmers within the first hundred days. But now, Minister Tummala is saying that he has not taken a decision on Rythu Bharosa. Tenant farmers are waiting with tears in their eyes. As Revanth Reddy said, tenant farmers should be given farmer’s insurance. Revanth Reddy wrote a letter to tenant farmers before the elections. 22 lakh tenant farmers should be given farmer’s insurance on par with the landowner,’ KTR said sharply.’Why a fistful of ten thousand before the elections? They said 15 thousand per acre is farmer’s insurance. They said 5 thousand if we take it now, 7500 if we take it after December 3rd 2024. Till now, no farmer’s insurance has been given. These same Congress leaders have written letters to the Election Commission demanding Rythu Bandhu. We could not give it with the election code. They gave the same money to the farmers once and evaded it twice. They changed the name of Rythu Bandhu to change and gave the same 5 thousand,’ KTR said.
KTR was furious at the government’s behavior, saying that they promised to do everything for everyone and now they are giving it to only a few. ‘They are going to implement the Rythu Bandhu scheme. They are going to make it disappear. These days, there are people with IT payments and PAN cards in villages as per the eligibility criteria of the loan system. Will they give Rythu Bandhu to all of them?’ he protested. ‘They are saying that they will not give it to government employees. If a farmer’s child becomes a government employee, will they break the bond they have with the land for generations?’ he questioned. He demanded that the report of the ministerial sub-committee be placed before the state immediately. He criticized that the Congress is spreading propaganda that the entire government treasury has been swallowed by the farmers, and that many fabricated articles have been written saying that Rythu Bandhu is for the poor and the needy. KTR flagged that the Chief Minister is making them believe that he will give Rythu Bandhu after Sankranti just to bury the farmers in the local elections. He said that he has already skipped the monsoon harvest and is now starting a new drama for votes. He called on the farmers to ask Congress leaders who come for votes. He objected that Revanth Reddy gets angry no matter what they ask in the Assembly.KTR criticized the Congress for doing a huge misinformation campaign on Rythu Bandhu. He said that while 98 percent of the farmers in the state are small, it has been decided to give Rythu Bandhu to everyone, regardless of the big or small, until the agricultural sector is in a recession. He reminded that no restrictions have been placed on Rythu Bandhu until the agricultural sector is stabilized. “Our policy is that no matter how much we do to a farmer who lives on the soil, he will get what he deserves. 91.33 percent of the Rythu Bandhu beneficiaries are those who have more than 5 acres of land. Only 7.28 percent are middle class farmers with 5-10 acres. Those with more than 10 acres are 1.39 percent. Only 0.09 percent are big farmers with more than 25 acres. Out of the 72 thousand crores of Rythu Bandhu, only 1.39 percent went to big farmers,” KTR explained. He said that it was wrong to say that Rs. 21,283 crores were misused in the Rythu Bandhu scheme. He said that Rs. 73 thousand crores were deposited in the accounts of farmers for 11 seasons.According to RBI figures, in 2014-15, the cultivated area in Telangana was 34.35 lakh acres. The crop production was 106.86 lakh tonnes. By the time we came to power, we had increased the cultivated area from 34 lakh to 59.8 lakh. The production of food crops increased from 71 lakh tonnes to 2 crore tonnes. A growth of 185 percent. The combined production of both crops increased from 1.30 crore tonnes to 2.2 crore tonnes. This was possible only because of the farmer’s bond. With the Kaleshwaram, Palamuru Ranga Reddy, Bhakta Ramadasu and Sitarama lift irrigation schemes, we have transformed it into a dairy Telangana and a prosperous Telangana during our ten years of rule. The irrigation area was 62 lakh 50 thousand acres in 2014 and has reached 1 crore 60 lakh acres by 2023. With an increase of 155 percent, we have brought an additional 10 million acres under cultivation in Telangana. Cultivation has increased significantly due to incentives given to non-cultivating farmers. In rice, it has risen from the 10th or 11th position to the first position. While rice production in 2013-14 was 57 lakh tons, it has increased to 68 lakh tons by 2023-24. Even in the joint state, the grain given to FCI including AP and Telangana did not exceed 90 lakh tons. But in 2021, 41 lakh tons of paddy was given to FCI from Telangana alone. Unable to buy the grain grown by Telangana farmers, FCI raised its hands. The value of the grain purchased by our government from farmers in the last ten years is literally 1 lakh 34 thousand crores. If it was 24 lakh tons in 2014-15, it reached 30 lakh tons in 2022-23. KTR mentioned the achievements of the agricultural sector under the BRS regime, saying, “The fields are full of grain and the eyes of the farmers are full of courage.” There is no assurance for the farmer’s livelihood and land. “In the manifesto, it was said that a bonus of 500 will be given in addition to the support price for each crop. The bonus should be given as promised,” KTR demanded. He criticized the government for giving a bonus of 700 crores and evading the assurance of 7,600 crores to the farmers. “They said that they would legalize six guarantees in the first cabinet meeting after coming to power. What happened to the promise given by Rahul Gandhi? Didn’t the first cabinet meet even after 12 months? Or didn’t Rahul get permission?” KTR protested. Citing the farmers, Lagacharla expressed his grief that under the Congress rule, there was no security for the livelihood of farmers, much less security for their land, and that a situation had arisen where farmers who should be in the fields were in prison.
KTR said that many farmers will lose their farmer assurance because they are saying that only one crop will be cultivated in the lands under ROFR pattas, and will the second phase of Rythu Bandhu be given to the tribals? Or not? He asked. Cotton is grown in 45 lakh acres in the state, the crop season is 8 months, and the kandi crop season is also 8 months, so will it be given to cotton and kandi farmers only once? Will it be given twice? If there is no plan to cut the farmer assurance, why did Minister Tummala mention PM Kisan? ‘If the PM Kisan guidelines are your guidelines, then the farmer assurance will be applicable to only 25 percent of the farmers. Minister Tummala is saying that the PM Kisan guidelines will not be followed. If it is given as it is, why is there a debate? There are people who cultivate three crops in Rangareddy and Vikarabad districts. Will the farmer be assured for three more crops? While in the opposition in the same assembly, Revanth Reddy asked us why they won’t give it for the third crop. Will you give Rythu Bandhu for the third crop? We should clarify whether we will give it or not.’ He protested. Before 2014, agriculture was in crisis. According to NCRB figures, farmer suicides are more in Telangana and Vidarbha in the country. Our share in farmer suicides is 11.1 percent. By 2023, we have reduced it to 1.05 percent. In 2014, 898 farmers committed suicide, but in 2020, we reduced it to 466. The Center also said that this is the lowest. Migration has returned. Laborers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are migrating to us. Lakhs are being spent in each village for the Bodrai festival. Cultivation has improved. “This situation has come about because agriculture has improved,” KTR explained. “The Union Minister asked us how we have grown so much crop. What miracles have we done? It is not miracles but great deeds that have led to the reduction in farmer suicides. Crop cultivation has increased,” KTR clarified.KTR recalled that the Rythu Bandhu scheme implemented by the BRS government has received many praises across the country. He said that many states, including the Kalia scheme in Odisha and the Krishi Bandhu scheme in Bengal, have introduced cash transfer schemes taking Rythu Bandhu as an example. He said that the BJP at the Center has also copied Rythu Bandhu and launched the PM Kisan Samman scheme, and the Center has made many cuts in this scheme. The Rythu Bandhu scheme has received praise from economists like Ashok Gulati, Arvind Subramanian, Raghuram Rajan, Abhijit Banerjee, and even the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and he clarified that Rythu Bandhu is a game changer that has changed the farmer’s life.The Congress government owed Rs. 17,500 per acre to one farmer, including the two-phase farmer assurance, the one-phase Rs. 5,000, and the 2,500 that was missed, adding up to Rs. 17,500, the government owes farmers about Rs. 26,775 crore. We will not leave this amount until it is given to the farmers.70 lakh farmers in Telangana need Rs.23 thousand crores for 1.53 crore acres at the rate of Rs.15 thousand per acre. But, the Congress government has allocated only Rs.15 thousand crores in the budget for farmer assurance. This is proof of your sincerity. It is clear that the government formed the sub-committee only after preparing for cuts in farmer assurance.
