Rythu Bharosa after Sankranti, assures CM

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy along with his cabinet colleagues addressing a press conference on ‘Rythu Panduga’ (Farmers Festival) in Hyderabad on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

Come Sankranti, the Rythu Bharosa money would be deposited in the accounts of eligible farmers, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy announced here on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Reddy asked farmers not to fall for the propaganda of the ‘Mareechas’, a mythological figure who comes in disguise to kidnap Sita in Ramayana, comparing the opposition parties with him. “Don’t believe them irrespective of what form they come in,” he said.

Announcing that the farm loan waiver of ₹2 lakh was the largest ever benefit in the country since Independence in any government, he challenged the BJP and BRS leaders to come for a debate. Loans up to ₹2 lakh totalling to ₹20,616.89 crore of 25,35,964 farmers have been waived off with the final instalment given on Saturday from the Mahabubnagar meeting.

The Chief Minister said Congress had cleared the loans taken during the BRS government in the last two terms and that too in just 11 months. He said the BRS failed to clear the loans promised in 2014 and farmers renewed the loans when it was promised in 2018 again.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy along with his cabinet colleagues addressing a press conference on ‘Rythu Panduga’ (Farmers Festival) in Hyderabad on Sunday.

| Photo Credit:
NAGARA GOPAL

Mr. Reddy said that after promising farm loan waiver in 2018, the BRS government cleared them totalling ₹11,909.31 crore just before the 2023 Assembly elections. Out of this, the banks had deducted ₹8,578.97 crore as interest, and effectively only ₹3,331 crore was waived off from the principal loan amount.

The Chief Minister also said the Congress government paid ₹7,625 crore pending Rythu Bandhu dues of BRS for the Kharif 2023 season. The BRS raised this money by ‘selling’ the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to gain politically in the elections.

Bonus for paddy

The Chief Minister made it clear that the ₹500 bonus would continue in future as well as the government wants to supply it to the hostels and also under the Public Distribution System (PDS). He also advised the farmers to opt for Telangana Sona, BPT or HMT as they have high-yielding capacity and are consumed in Telangana. The government has procured 31 lakh tonnes of paddy till now.