2 weeks Ago By TNM Staff
The Congress government in Telangana under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has launched celebrations to mark its first anniversary of being in power, from December 1 to 9. As a prelude, CM Revanth participated in the Rythu Panduga (farmers’ festival) at Mahabubnagar on November 30, declaring that his is the only government to have spent Rs 54,280 crore on farmers’ welfare in a single year. However, farmers’ organisations said that welfare measures continue to evade most tenant farmers, as under the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government.
At a press meet held on November 30, Saturday, major organisations of farmers, agricultural workers and tenant farmers under the joint banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha Telangana announced a public hearing and protest on December 4. The event is being organised to demand recognition for tenant farmers under the Telangana Land Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011, which would help them access loans, input subsidies and other benefits. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha Telangana comprises of farmer organisations such as Rythu Swarajya Vedika, Telangana Rythu Sangam, Telangana Rashtra Rythu Sangham, All India Progressive Farmers Association (AIPKS), Telangana Agricultural Workers' Union, and Telangana Raitanga Samiti.
Members of the Telangana Samyukta Kisan Morcha recalled Revanth Reddy’s open letter to tenant farmers of the state dated September 13, 2023, before being voted to power. In the letter, Revanth had acknowledged the disadvantages of tenant farmers, from lack of access to crop loans and input subsidies to crop insurance. He had promised annual assistance of Rs 15,000 per acre for tenant farmers, and Rs 12,000 for farm labourers.
“In that letter, Revanth Reddy promised that the Congress government would do complete justice to tenant farmers. He said that the Congress had earlier brought in the Land Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011 to give identification cards to tenant farmers and provide them crop loans and benefits of various schemes including Rythu Bharosa,” Morcha leaders said. None of these promises have been fulfilled, and tenant farmers are yet to be recognised under the Cultivators Act, they said.
On December 4, hundreds of tenant farmers from various districts will gather in Hyderabad at the Indira Park Dharna Chowk to voice their demands at a public hearing. Eminent citizens including academic and human rights activist G Haragopal, will be present at the gathering. “We have a question to the Chief Minister and the ministers who are organising the Rythu Panduga farmer festival in Palamuru – why are tenant farmers not a part of the farmer festival? The real farmer festival will happen only when more than 22 lakh tenant farmers in the state are identified and included in government schemes,” Morcha leaders said.
They said that 75% of the farmer suicides in Telangana are those of tenant farmers, and only by identifying them and providing them full support can these deaths be stopped. The leaders demanded speedy implementation of the Land Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011, by taking applications from tenant farmers, issuing them Loan Eligibility Card (LEC) cards, and including them in all government schemes, providing access to bank loans, and crop procurement. On November 30, newspapers were also splashed with full page advertisements, declaring the amount of loans waived, investment assistance, crop loss compensation, free electricity and other benefits provided to farmers in the past year.
“We are proudly celebrating ‘ Rythu Panduga’ in Palamuru after giving a bonus to the paddy farmers,” Revanth said. Challenging former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Revanth asked, “Is there a history of loan waiver of Rs. 17,869 crores in just 25 days anywhere in the country? Our government waived loans of Rs 21,000 crores which benefited 35 lakh farmers in the first year itself.
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