HYDERABAD: Days after the TRS attacked Narendra Modi-led Centre for neglecting Telangana’s demands in the Union Budget, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday hurled salvos directly at the Prime Minister for ignoring the plight of farmers. He termed Modi’s promise of doubling farmers’ income in the country by 2022 as “just talk with no credible action on the ground.”“The BJP has done nothing impressive for improving the agriculture sector in the country, till now. Neither BJP nor Congress had ever worked for the development of farmers. TRS is the only party that has taken measures to improve the lives of farmers,” he remarked and went to the extent of saying, “I am in talks with other Chief Ministers to form an alliance and fight together (against the Centre) for the sake of development of farmers.”
This is probably Rao’s first attack against Modi in the recent past. So far, only his party MPs and ministers including his son KT Rama Rao have been expressing displeasure at the Centre for not allocating “sufficient” funds for the “performing TS”.The Chief Minister’s bid to project himself as the “saviour” of farmers comes ahead of Congress Party’s bus yatra that is to begin on Monday, purportedly to expose State government’s ‘failures and unfulfilled promises’. Even before the yatra could take off, Chandrasekhar Rao swung into action and started consolidating his party’s position among farming community.
“No other government in the entire country is implementing such welfare measures. Our government stands as a role model not only for other States but also the Centre in introducing novel welfare measures for farmers. We will allocate `12,000 crore for the FISS in the maiden budget exclusively introduced for agriculture in the ensuing session,” Rao announced.
Probably sounding the poll bugle, he gave guidance to the members of newly formed Farmers’ Coordination Committees on how to extensively publicise welfare schemes being implemented for farmers by his government. Addressing the first regional conference organised with Mandal level Farmers’ Committees belonging to 13 districts of southern Telangana, Rao explained about the role to be played by these committees in creating awareness among the farmers on welfare schemes including the `4,000 input subsidy to be given for each farmer per acre per crop.
Rao also raised the demand of extending the MNREGA scheme to farmers and agricultural labourers. Blaming MNREGA, he said that there is always agricultural labour crisis in Telangana during harvest season, even if the farmers are ready to pay `500 per day. He said he had written many times to Modi to extend MNREGA to farming and had informed him that TS Assembly took a resolution supporting it but never got a response from Delhi.
As Rao spoke on extending MNREGA to farming, there was a loud applause from the audience. Rao said at least looking at this show of support from farmers on television for his proposition of extending MNREGA to farming, Centre should use its ‘buddhi’. Meanwhile, as part of his efforts to publicise welfare schemes being implemented for farmers, the CM will address Farmers’ Committees belonging to Northern Telangana in Karimnagar on Monday. Later, he will take up Singareni Yatra on Feb 27.
Sukender Reddy to head Rythu Samithi
On expected lines, Nalgonda Member of Parliament Gutha Sukender Reddy will be appointed as the Chairman of Rythu Samanvaya Samithi (Farmer Coordination Committee), announced Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday. Rao said that as of now there have been no official appointment letter appointing Reddy to the post but he decided to announce his decision in the meeting itself. Now, it remains to be seen if Sukhender Reddy will resign to his MP post paving way for a bye-election to Nalgonda parliament seat, considered stronghold of Opposition Congress. He recently shifted to TRS.