At a Cabinet meeting held on Saturday, the Congress government announced a reduction of Rs 3,000 in the promised financial assistance to farmers, setting the new amount at Rs 12,000 per acre. This support, which will be available from January 26, is for all cultivable lands and comes with no conditions attached. However, the cutback from the Rs 15,000 per acre initially promised during the 2023 Assembly election campaign has given opposition parties ample ammunition to attack the ruling party.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy defended the decision, citing financial constraints as the reason for the pruning of funds. Despite the reduction, Reddy emphasized that the new assistance was still Rs 2,000 higher than the Rs 10,000 per acre provided under the previous BRS government’s Rythu Bandhu scheme.
However, opposition parties, including the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were quick to label the decision a betrayal. BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao accused the Congress of deceiving farmers, claiming that the promises made in the Warangal Rythu Declaration and by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the election campaign had turned out to be hollow.
"This is nothing short of a betrayal," said BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Home, Bandi Sanjay Kumar. "Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have once again stabbed farmers in the back. This isn’t help—it’s a cruel joke on the farmers who trusted them."
In the lead-up to the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, Congress had promised a comprehensive package for farmers, which included a Rs 2 lakh loan waiver and a Rs 15,000 direct benefit per acre annually. These promises were part of six key guarantees announced by Congress President Sonia Gandhi in September 2023.
In contrast, the BRS had launched Rythu Bandhu in 2018, providing Rs 10,000 per acre annually to farmers. This scheme, covering around 65 lakh farmers, has cost the state approximately Rs 16,000 crore annually. Although tenant farmers were excluded from Rythu Bandhu, Congress pledged to include them under the new Rythu Bharosa scheme, which will also extend support to an estimated 17 lakh tenant farmers in Telangana.
The opposition’s anger has been compounded by the perception that Congress has failed to implement its election promises within the stipulated 100 days of taking power. Despite government claims of progress, the opposition insists that many promises, such as the loan waivers and additional bonuses for paddy, remain unfulfilled or only partially implemented.
Chief Minister Reddy, however, responded to these allegations by explaining the financial difficulties his government inherited. He pointed out that when Telangana was formed in 2014, the state had a surplus budget of Rs 16,000 crore and debts of just Rs 69,000 crore. By the time the BRS government was ousted in 2023, the state's debt had ballooned to Rs 7.5 lakh crore, with a monthly repayment obligation of Rs 6,500 crore.
"With the state’s current monthly revenue of Rs 18,500 crore, we are not in a position to fulfill all our promises immediately. The government will need at least Rs 30,000 crore per month to meet all its commitments," Reddy said.
Despite these challenges, the Congress government has made strides in fulfilling certain promises, including the waiver of farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh for 25 lakh farmers, free bus rides for women, and a hike in the Rajiv Arogyasri health insurance scheme for Below Poverty Line families.
In addition to the reduced Rythu Bharosa support, the Cabinet on Saturday also introduced two new initiatives: Rs 12,000 per year for landless farm laborers under the "Indiramma Athmeeya Bharosa" scheme and new ration cards for eligible families. These schemes will be implemented from January 26 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the adoption of India’s Constitution.
The Congress government hopes these initiatives will help alleviate the criticism and bolster its support among the state’s farmers. However, with the opposition continuing to mount pressure, the coming months are likely to see heightened political debate over the fate of the state’s farm welfare policies.
