‘Rythu Bandhu’ triggers Cong-BRS war of words

Hyderabad: The ruling Congress and BRS crossed swords over ‘Rythu Bandhu’, with the Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and BRS MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy challenging each other’s claims on the scheme.

Participating in the discussion on demands for grants in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Rajeshwar expressed reservations over the claims of Finance Minister in his budget speech where he said that the previous government had transferred funds to ‘ineligible’ persons, ‘owners of fallow lands’ and ‘real estate businessmen’. Countering the claims the MLA said that the previous government has maintained all the inventory as to who were the beneficiaries. Over the statements that taxpayer money was being utilised for the farm loan waiver scheme, the MLA wondered if the farmers were not taxpayers. “Yes, we have transferred the Rythu Bandhu funds to rocks and trees, as even the Tribals have availed all the government benefits. The present government is giving an impression that the thousands of crores have gone in vain, despite the fact that the KCR government has maintained all the details in inventory,” he said.

Responding to this, Bhatti said that the BRS MLA was trying to mislead the house by twisting his statements and asked not to link the scheme with the benefits the Tribals were entitled to, as the previous government has failed to do justice to Tribals. “When the scheme is meant for encouraging farmers, it is a fact that the BRS government has provided these funds to ineligible farmers. When did I say that farmers were not taxpayers? I had only said that the taxpayer money was being utilised for an important scheme like farm loan waiver.

The BRS government during its 10-year rule has failed to give even pattas to podu lands and forcing Tribals into forests. It’s ironic that they are speaking about justice to Tribals. Didn’t your government deprive the Tribals of their rights? Tribals including women were tortured by police under BRS rule,” he said amidst uproar from the Opposition.

Rajeshwar Reddy said that the present government was trying to wash its hands off by limiting the amount for farm loan waiver, as the estimates were of Rs 40,000 crore, if all the eligible are taken into account. He alleged that by applying norms of PM Kisan Yojana, the State government was bringing down the number of beneficiaries and depriving scores. “Unlike the claims of the present government that farm loan waiver will be given in single go, it has utterly failed in implementing it,” he alleged.