TRS counters criticism over KCR’s sops to farmers of other states

Hyderabad: TRS leaders on Saturday countered the criticism of Opposition parties over Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s scheduled handing over of Rs 3 lakh ex gratia to families of farmers belonging to Punjab and Haryana who died while protesting against the Centre's now-withdrawn farm laws.

Speaking to the media, agriculture minister S. Niranjan Reddy and Rythu Bandhu chairman Palla Rajeshwar Reddy accused the Congress and BJP leaders of stooping to do 'petty politics'.

Taking exception to the criticism that Rao had ignored Telangana farmers who had died in the last eight years, Niranjan Redddy said "We brought Rythu Bima under which the government pays the premium amount to LIC on behalf of farmers and extends Rs 5 lakh compensation to families of farmers who die, irrespective of wither it is a natural death or by suicide, within 10 days.”

He said 80,755 farmers' families had benefitted from Rythu Bima and demanded the implementation of Telangana’s welfare and development programmes in BJP and Congress-ruled states, if they were genuinely concerned about the welfare of farmers.

Rajeshwar Reddy reminded that when Congress was in power, families of deceased farmers had to run from pillar to post to claim a meagre Rs 50,000 compensation. The Telangana government, in contrast, deposits Rs 5 lakh directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries within 10 days, he said.

He said that in addition to Rythu Bima, Rs 50,447.33 crore was directly deposited into farmers’ accounts by the Telangana government under Rythu Bandhu since May 2018.