KCR’s reassuring gesture to aggrieved farmers during visit to four districts

HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday visited the districts of Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahabubabad, and Warangal to evaluate crop damage caused by the recent abnormally severe rains.

Chief Minister KCR, who took a chopper from Hyderabad at 10 a.m., first visited affected regions in Khammam district's Madhira constituency. He spoke with farmers and inquired about their crop losses.

He addressed the farmers' concerns and promised that the state government would offer Rs 10,000 per acre as part of the relief and rehabilitation initiatives.

The Chief Minister personally inspected the maize, chili, and mango plantations. He spoke to the farmers, consoled them, and instilled courage in them. He also assured them that the government would support them in every possible way.

The unexpected rains and hailstorms damaged crops on 2,28,255 acres across the state, according to the Chief Minister. This included a maize crop in 1,29,446 acres, paddy spanning 72,709 acres, and mangoes in 8,865 acres.

The Chief Minister said at Reddykunta Thanda of Palakurthy Constituency Pedda Wangara Mandal, "We have developed the agriculture sector by providing 24 hours free electricity, Rythu Bandhu facility, and free water from the projects, unlike anywhere else in the country."

"We would have made this announcement while sitting in Hyderabad. We've traveled so far because we understand your suffering. All of us, even senior officials, are here under the scorching sun to console, encourage, and assist our farmer brothers and sisters. Our visit serves as a reminder that Telangana will always be there for our farmers," said KCR.

He said his government was implementing irrigation projects with significant investment. He also said, that efforts were being made to complete new projects as early as possible. He asserted that, while the state government was executing numerous initiatives for the welfare of farmers, such plans were not being implemented anywhere across the globe.

The Chief Minister also stated that as a result of the schemes being implemented by the state government, the agriculture sector had strengthened in Telangana state and farmers were coming out of debt trap.

Telangana also had a higher per capita income than Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and other states, according to KCR. Telangana, he added, had established itself as a state focused on agriculture.

He pointed out that Telangana was the first state paying Rs.10,000 per acre for relief and rehabilitation measures and this was a first in the country, and Telangana was the first to provide such significant support to farmers.

He claimed that under the current Union Government's policy, impacted farmers would receive no compensation. The policies were useless to farmers. The country urgently needed a new agricultural policy, said KCR.

In a gesture of reassuring the aggrieved farmers, the Chief Minister met some of them in their fields and enquired about their problems. He told them that the government was immediately sanctioning Rs.10,000 per acre as an assistance. He also said that the government would consider addressing the issue of some limited number of tenant farmers also. Guidelines would be issued accordingly.

In response to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's announcement on Thursday, the Telangana government issued an order allocating funds to compensate farmers for damaged crops.