Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on Saturday claimed that the Telangana Government was spending more than Rs 27,000 crore for the welfare of poor and weaker sections of the society.
Addressing a press conference here, Pocharam dismissed the allegations of AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi that the TRS Government has ignored the promises that it made with the people during elections. He reminded that the State Government has enhanced the monthly pension amounts and Rs 1,000 is being paid to widows while Rs 1500 is being given to old age persons. The government is also distributing 3 acres of land among the landless people belonging to Scheduled Tribes (STs). An innovative scheme, Kalyana Lakshmi, was introduced to provide financial assistance of Rs 51,000 to poor girls at the time of marriage.
Pocharam said that the Telangana Government has been striving hard to help the agriculture sector. He alleged that huge number of farmers have committed suicide during the previous Congress rule. Huge crop loss was also reported due to unseasonal rains from 2009 to 2014. However, the then Congress Government did not provide any assistance to the affected farmers. But the TRS Government has so far provided relief of Rs 400 crore to the affected farmers. (INN)