BJP rubbishes KCR's crop damage aid, seeks Fasal Bima in state

HYDERABAD: The BJP on Thursday said the Rs 10,000 compensation offered by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to farmers whose crops were damaged in the recent heavy rain and hailstorm spells in Telangana state was nothing more than an eyewash. The party said farmers in Telangana, facing periodic catastrophic losses on account of weather-related events, would not be in a dire situation had the Telangana government agreed to implement the PM Fasal Bima Yojana offering crop insurance.

“The only reason why the crop insurance scheme was not implemented by KCR was that he is afraid that the Central government will get credit for coming to farmers’ rescue,” BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar said.

The BJP is of the view, according to party leaders, that the state government should conduct a proper survey to ascertain the actual investment cost incurred by each affected farmer, and compensation be paid accordingly by the state government.

Sanjay, in a statement, said the Chief Minister “who never stepped out of Pragati Bhavan to commiserate with farmers, has done so this time because this is the election year. Why has he not come forward to assist farmers affected in a similar manner in the past eight years?”

The Rs 10,000 aid will barely cover the costs incurred by farmers for each acre of crop they planted, Sanjay said. Even the estimate of crop damages in 2.28 lakh acres is way below the initial estimates that crops in some 5 lakh acres have been affected, and neither agriculture nor revenue department officials have done any survey to establish the full extent of the damage, he added.

Sanjay said it was shameful that “KCR said he will not send a crop damage assessment report to the Centre while claiming that the Centre offers no help at all. The Telangana government should immediately implement the Fasal Bima Yojana in the state.”