Telangana Polls: Farmers' Issues Take Center Stage in Election Campaigns
HYDERABAD: With Rythu Bharosa (previously known as Rythu Bandhu), the financial assistance provided to farmers before the start of agriculture season, being remitted and Rabi season by and large passing off without much difficulty on power and irrigation fronts, the Congress has been pinning hopes heavily on the largest voting community of farmers and farm labour.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy prioritised the release of Rythu Bharosa initially to small and marginal farmers and recently farmers with more than five acres also received the financial assistance. The Congress is in upbeat mood with the feedback that the farmers were happy over input subsidies for equipment like tractors, drip irrigation and seeds and pesticides that were in vogue earlier are brought back again.
This, they say, will benefit the large number of small and marginal farmers who form the bulk of the farming community. They however insist that the Chief Minister as promised earlier should ensure that the assistance is given only to the needy and real farmers who are into cultivation. Payment should not be done to barren lands and hillocks as had happened earlier and some even suggest an upper limit to the acreage for paying the input dole.
K. Pratap (67), a farmer from Berhampur village of Talamadugu mandal of Adilabad district, bats for limiting Rythu Bandhu to 10 acres. He said the government should give its share of a four percent interest subsidy on farm loans as per NABARD scheme.
“I am hopeful the present government will honour the August 15 deadline for `2 lakh loan waiver. The input subsidy on farm necessities should be restarted again. People are saving electricity to limit their consumption to the 200 units that they can avail for free now.”
On renewing the subsidy facilities on inputs, M. Shekhar, a farmer with three acres from Arutla village of Ranga Reddy district, says, “It will benefit small farmers like me if subsidy is given for tomato boxes, mango plants which were being given earlier. My paddy crop dried up. I will grow tomatoes now. Subsidies for drip irrigation equipment will benefit.”
As a MGNREGS worker himself, he feels that the government has to time the work not to affect the paddy sowing or cutting season. He opines the scheme supplements his income during the summer season. “The free bus facility for women is a welcome step and is helpful. I had received BC Bandhu earlier and hence voted for the previous government. I am hoping to get an Indiramma house sanctioned now and will vote accordingly in the parliament polls.”
His fellow villager K. Shekhar Reddy, while largely agreeing with him, does not hope the present state government will increase the Rythu Bandhu amount to the promised Rs 7,500 per acre.
He is also not hopeful of the launch of crop insurance schemes and counts the Central government’s Ayushman Bharat and Fasal Bima Yojana as good schemes and would influence his voting choice in the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP gained some brownie points following the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set up the turmeric board in the State before the 2023 assembly polls. Crediting the Centre’s decision to set up the Turmeric Board for getting higher prices for the crop, T. Rajeshwar (57) from Donkal village of Morthad mandal of Nizamabad district, said, “We did not get proper price for the past 10 years and had fetched only Rs 6,000 to 7,000 per quintal. But this year, we got more than `13,000 to `15,000. This situation will favour the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. The 10 years of the BRS government was corruption-ridden.”
As one of the 180 farmers, who had filed nominations during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, seeking the board, he said, “I feel politicians agree to people’s demands depending on their reading of the situation. As a farmer with eight acres of land, I got Rythu Bandhu on Wednesday.”
G. Ravinder Reddy, a farmer from Choppadandi mandal of Karimnagar district, opines power situation is not a problem now as all the crops have been cut. The farmer whose land is irrigated by water from the SRSP (Sriram Sagar Project) feels loan waiver is something that the farmers are looking forward to. “Whether the incumbent government would waive the pending loan accrued from the previous regime or not has to be seen. I have rescheduled my Rs 2 lakh loan.”
Batting for keeping the MSP in line with their increased input costs, V. Ramakrishna, a farmer from Sirisedu village in Ellanthakunta village of Karimnagar district, opined that their farm produce prices have not kept pace with the costs.
The present government, he feels, has started well by giving 30,000 jobs to youth. “It is children of farmers like me who come and struggle in the hostels in Hyderabad hoping for new job notifications. Many farmers are struggling to help their wards in the process.”