Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Friday demanded the Centre to release funds for agricultural development in the state. He also asked opposition leaders to come forward with suggestions to overcome challenges in the Agri sector.
Speaking in the ongoing assembly session, KCR compared the relations between the state and the Centre to that of backwaters being created due to the mingling of river water in the sea. Rao was critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government for not releasing funds for the agricultural sector, which he said could help farmers to produce good quality crops.
KCR added that the Centre’s agricultural insurance policies are “actually bogus” since those yielded no major benefits. He stressed the need to take the farmers’ issues seriously, adding that the scarcity of funds would soon lead to a dire situation in the state. He then lashed out on banks designated to provide financial aid to the farmers, stating that, “These banks have withheld the rightful money of the farmers”.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief was of the view that the Congress had brought in certain schemes to help out the farmers, which eventually failed. He added that the current government was doing the same through its corporate-friendly farm laws.
He was of the view that it is time to help “real farmers instead of backing the fake ones”. KCR stated that the Rythu Bandhu scheme is proving beneficial for farmers at the moment, but that there is only so much the state government can do without the help of the Centre.
KCR also urged opposition leaders to come up with suggestions to deal with farmer issues, and said that the state government is ready to spend approximately Rs 100 to 200 crore for the betterment of farmers across the state.