Senior BRS leader and former Finance Minister T Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government was hatching a conspiracy to bury the popular Rythu Bandhu scheme, launched by the previous BRS government and became popular all over the country. He demanded the government to give clarity on the implementation of the scheme and immediately release the pending Kharifand Yasangi season amount.
Harish Rao said it was deplorable that Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswar Rao was claiming that the farmers were saying that the bonus of Rs 500 given to fine rice was better than that of Rythu Bandhu. He recalled that Rythu Bandhu was the only scheme in the world that had provided investment assistance to farmers, and the United Nations praised it.
He recalled that the Congress government announced to buy 5,19,605 quintals of fine rice with a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal out of the total yield of 1.53 crore tonnes produced in the State. By which, he said that the bonus received by the farmers should be only about Rs 26 crore.
Whereas, Harish Rao pointed out that Rs 7,500 crore per year would need to be deposited in the farmers’ accounts under Rythu Bandhu. If the Congress government pays Rs 15,000 per acre as stated in the manifesto, this will be even more. Then, he wondered how a bonus on rice makes a replacement for Rythu Bandhu? He accused the government of making a systematic move to give up this popular scheme.
Harish Rao recalled that BRS president and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had earlier warned that Rythu Bandhu would be stopped if the Congress party came to power. As expected, he alleged that the Revanth Reddy government was taking steps in that direction.
Harish Rao made it clear that the BRS party strongly condemns the conspiracy to stop the Rythu Bandhu scheme brought by KCR to change the lives of farmers. Stating that farmers are vexed with Congress government’s anti- farmer attitude, he warned that Revanth Reddy will be forced to pay a heavy price towards the anger of the farmers.
