Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday stated the Congress government would complete the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme (PRLIS) within three years which would make the hitherto-drought affected Mahbubnagar district a rice bowl with irrigation water in every corner of the district.
Bhatti also announced the government’s commitment to implement the farm loan waiver and asked eligible farmers to provide information to get the Rs 2-lakh farm loan waiver.
Addressing Congress workers at Wanaparthy, Bhatti said the state Cabinet was working 18 hours a day to implement welfare schemes promised by the party, and asked the party workers to visit the villages and campaign for the party with full confidence.
He pointed out that all irrigation projects in Palamuru — including Koilsagar, Bhima, Kalwakurthy and Nettampadu 3 were constructed by the earlier Congress governments.
He announced that the state government was committed to completing the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Srisailam tunnel and Dindi projects on the Krishna river on priority.
Bhatti said that the government had repaid Rs 66,000 crore this year for loans and interest for all the debt raised by the earlier BRS government. "The state government used to pay Rs 6,400 crore every year towards loan payment and interest when the state was formed in 2014 and now the state is paying Rs 66,000 crore annually," he said.
Claiming that the Indiramma government had increased Rythu Bharosa from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per farmer per year, Bhatti reiterated that the government will deposit Rs 8,400 crore for the scheme on January 26.
He said that the state government credited Rs 7,600 crore into the accounts of farmers under Rythu Bharosa in the first year itself. Another Rs 22,000 crore was credited within a span of three months towards waiver of farm loans of up to Rs 2 lakh.
Charging that BRS MLAs K.T. Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao were spreading lies on loan waiver, Bhatti said all lands under cultivation are eligible to get Rythu Bharosa.
For the first time, the landless agricultural labourer would also get Rs 12,000 under Rythu Bharosa, he said. Bhatti disclosed that the state government was paying Rs 12,000 crore every year to power utilities under free power supply to the farm sector.
The government was also paying insurance premiums on behalf of farmers under the crop compensation and Rythu Bhima schemes. The Bhadradri and Yadadri power plants will also begin operations shortly, he said.
He also announced that the Cabinet has decided to sanction 4.5 lakh people with Indiramma houses in the first phase and new ration cards to all eligible people.
