Hyderabad: The ruling Congress and BRS had a heated debate over the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme. Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and BRS MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy challenged each other’s claims about the scheme.
During a discussion on grants in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Rajeshwar questioned the Finance Minister’s budget speech. Vikramarka had said that the previous government transferred funds to people who did not deserve them, including ‘owners of fallow lands’ and ‘real estate businessmen’. Rajeshwar countered by saying that the previous government kept records of all beneficiaries.
Rajeshwar also addressed the claim that taxpayer money was used for the farm loan waiver scheme, questioning if farmers were not taxpayers themselves. He admitted that some ‘Rythu Bandhu’ funds might have gone to non-agricultural lands, but insisted that the KCR government maintained detailed records.
In response, Bhatti accused Rajeshwar of twisting his words. He clarified that the taxpayer money was being used for an important scheme like the farm loan waiver and criticized the previous government for failing to help Tribals. He argued that the funds were given to ineligible farmers and stated that the BRS government did not provide land rights to Tribals, forcing them into forests and subjecting them to police brutality.
Rajeshwar Reddy then accused the current government of reducing the farm loan waiver amount. He said the estimated cost should be Rs 40,000 crore if all eligible farmers were included. He alleged that by using the criteria of the PM Kisan Yojana, the State government was limiting the number of beneficiaries, depriving many farmers. Rajeshwar also claimed that the current government failed to implement the farm loan waiver in one go, contrary to its promises.
