Rahul Gandhi's Rythu Sangarshana Sabha will be the beginning of end of KCR Sarkar

The winds of change have begun to blow in Telangana and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to Warangal on May 6 will mark the beginning of a new mission in the state. Fed up and frustrated with the autocratic and inhuman rule of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, people are looking towards Congress for releasing the newly formed Telangana from the iron fists of KCR and his family. 7500 farmers suicides in less than eight years - this sums up the state of TRS party's governance in a state, which was formed with the sacrifices of students and youth, who laid down their lives for a better life for the future generations. TRS boss KCR has turned Telangana, which was formed after a historical movement, in which people from all sections participated, into his private fiefdom. KCR has betrayed each and every section of Telangana in his eight year rule so far. But how many more days will this 'cheating' and 'looting' go on? Rahul Gandhi's Rythu Sangarshana Sabha to be held in Warangal is going to be the beginning of end of dictator KCR, who has turned democracy into kleptocracy.

Besides turning a blind eye to farmers suicides, KCR has betrayed farmers at every stage. From failing to waive crop loans, botching up paddy procurement issue to neglecting tenant farmers and inability to offer Minimum Support Price (MSP) for alternate crops, KCR has caused severe distress to farmers in every issue. Now he is trying to use the same farmers as pawns in his political game and trying to get back to power once again.

Fake Deekshas in Delhi in the name of farmers:

TRS chief KCR, who has been supporting PM Modi's Sarkar in every issue has staged a fake Deeksha (protest) alleging that Centre is not procuring paddy. Right from President's election to the anti-farmer farm laws, TRS supported BJP in every issue and acted as its B-Team. But to divert Telangana people from TRS Govt's failures, KCR has come up with a new ploy. He is trying to present himself as a champion of farmers, while the truth is exactly the opposite. What's ironical is, KCR, who had never cared about farmers protests against Centre' Farm Laws, sought help of farmers leader Rakesh Tikait, while enacted protest drama in national capital.

KCR, himself had submitted a letter to the Food Corporation of India(FCI) in August 2021 without consulting anyone, stating that Telangana would not give the boiled rice. Later he threatened Telangana farmers through IAS officers not to cultivate paddy. He even went to the extent of saying that farmers who sow paddy will be hanged. Now the same KCR has staged a fake Deeksha in Delhi alleging that Centre is not procuring paddy. If KCR is sincere towards farmers, why did not he do Deekha while the Parliament was in session? Why did not TRS MPs raise paddy purchase issue in the Parliament? By using farmers as pawns, KCR is trying to plunder Telangana again. The fake Deeksha conducted in Delhi is a part of this conspiracy.

KCR's flip-flop costs farmers dearly:

KCR has initially asked farmers not to cultivate paddy in the name of controlled farming and even warned of booking cases on farmers who cultivated paddy. However he had cultivated paddy in 100 acres at his farm house in Erravelli during Rabi season.
Following his words, thousands of farmers have not cultivated their lands. Later fooling the farmers who respected his words, KCR announced that Telangana Govt would purchase paddy by setting up paddy procurement centres. Then who will compensate the farmers who listened to KCR’s words?

To present himself as a champion of farmers KCR held a fake Deeksha in Delhi and later announced that Telangana Govt itself will procure paddy. It is very unfortunate that KCR is playing with the livelihoods of farmers for cheap political gains. TRS Government should immediately purchase each grain of paddy and also pay a compensation of Rs 15000 per acre for farmers who did not cultivate their lands on KCR's words.

Farmers who sold off Paddy at lower prices should be Compensated:

About 30 to 40 percent of the paddy farmers had already sold off their paddy directly to the rice millers at lower prices by the time KCR announced that the state government would procure paddy. They incurred a loss of at least three to four crore thousands of rupees. Who will compensate for the losses of these farmers? If KCR is sincere to help the poor farmers, he should offer Rs 500 per quintal additionally on the paddy already sold off by the farmers.

Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that Telangana had procured four lakh tonnes of rice in the last two Kharif seasons but so far not handed over the rice to the FCI. If these words are true, into whose pockets has this rice gone? In which black market was it sold? Centre must conduct a CBI probe into this issue.

Lack of MSP for the Alternate Crops aggravates farmers problems:

As CM KCR directed not to sow paddy, farmers cultivated alternate crops like bengal gram, peanuts, pigeon pea and other crops in about 10 lakh acres in the Telangana. But they suffered losses as they sold produce at lower prices, as government did not offer any MSP. If KCR Govt is really committed towards encouraging alternate crops, it should fix MSP for all these crops and procure them directly from the farmers at MSP.

KCR betrayed farmers on crop loan waiver promise:

When it first came to power TRS Govt waived crop loans in six instalments. The waiver benefits were not even equal to interest of the loans. KCR came back to power by promising, he would waive farm loans up to Rs one lakh at one go during the election campaign in 2018. KCR got the votes of farmers but failed to waive the farm loans causing much distress to the poor farmers. While the farmers took Rs 25,936 Cr loans, the Govt allocated Rs 20,389 Cr and waived off just Rs 1098 Cr so far. As the farmers waited for the waiver believing KCR's promise, the interest rate had doubled on the loans, increasing their burden further.

In the past there was a discount on the interest rate on the crop loan, but both the Central and State governments have not extended the discount on interest for the last eight years. As the farmers are unable to get the fresh loans, they are forced to go to private money lenders and get the loans at high interest rates.

Crop Insurance Schemes Come to a Halt:

During Congress rule, if the farmers paid premium for the crop insurance, they used to get the compensation in case of crop loss. But the BJP after coming to power at the Centre allowed private insurance companies into the crop insurance space. Because of this, farmers have been facing huge problems. According to a CAG report, the insurance companies earned Rs 26,000 Cr profit in crop insurance. In 2020, both the Centre and State stopped crop insurance schemes from the Kharif season. the KCR’s government did not pay premiums in 2018 and 2019 for two years. Thus the crop insurance schemes have become defunct leaving farmers future in uncertainty.

No Compensation for the Crop Loss caused by Natural Calamities:

KCR Sarkar has not even paid compensation since 2014 though the farmers suffered losses due to natural calamities. The government distributed Rs 10,000 to each family during the floods in Hyderabad in view of the GHMC elections. But it is not paying compensation to the farmers.  It is not even assessing the crop loss caused by natural calamities. Responding to a PIL, the High Court ordered the State government to pay compensation to the farmers who incurred losses due to calamities. But the government instead of paying the compensation went to the Apex court for an appeal against the judgment. Given this, we can understand the love of the government towards farmers.

Warangal : A glaring example of TRS Govt's apathy towards farmers

Owing to heavy rains recently, crops in the erstwhile Warangal district were damaged severely. Following this, a team of Ministers visited the damaged crops, but the farmers are yet to get the compensation. As the chilli crop was damaged due to pests and insects, 50 farmers committed suicide as they incurred huge losses and burdened by loans. This year, the yield of the cotton and other crops has drastically fallen down. But the government is not extending any help to the farmers.

No Compensation for the Kin of Farmers who committed Suicide - No Rythu Bheema to all the farmers:

Telangana is in the 3rd place in the suicides of the farmers. On an average three farmers are committing suicide every day, and more than 1,000 farmers are ending lives in a year. A total of 7500 farmers committed suicide during KCR’s regime. But the kin of these  farmers are not paid compensation as per GO 194. The government is refusing to identify them as the farmers’ suicides.

While 17,845 farmers died in 2018-19, 19,351 died in 2019-20 and 28,500 died in 2020-21. All the kin of the 65,696 farmers got Rythu Bheema, but tenant farmers who do not own the land, farmers aged above 59 years, and farm labourers are not entitled to get the Rythu Bheema. And 95 percent of the farmers are from BC, SC and ST communities.

Tenant Farmers' Never Ending Predicament:

KCR’s government is not recognising the tenant farmers as farmers. This inhuman government has no sympathy for them. Failure in identifying the 15 lakh tenant farmers as farmers and failure in addressing their problems is the testimony to the insensitivity and hollowness of KCR Sarkar. 80 percent of the farmers who committed suicide are tenant farmers in the State. While there was the Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011 of the composite State of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in force, it is not being implemented in Telangana State. As per this law, the tenant farmers must be identified and provided with LEC cards. The tenant farmers should be extended all sorts of support to help them cultivate land without financial burden.

Dharani Web Portal is a Big Deception:

Dharni portal is nothing but an official conspiracy to occupy the lands in lakhs of acres by KCR and his henchmen in the name of setting the records straight and digitization of the lands. Stating that it would resolve the issues of the lands by bringing the Dharani portal, TRS Govt has indeed created new problems. Farmers are going from pillar to post at the revenue offices to resolve their land issues. 30 percent of the land owners are yet to receive the patta books. Vexed with this problem, some of them even committed suicide. Farmers, who have been cultivating lands for several years, are unable to get the rights over the land due to negligence of the government. Claiming some lands as disputed in nature and putting them in Part-B, officials are resorting to corruption. While lakhs of people have applied for the rights over the land making Sada Bainama applications, they are not completely resolved. On the pretext of technical issues, several revenue issues are kept pending.

In addition to this, many patta lands were shown in the banned list due to negligence of officials. Though lakhs of people applied for the removal of their lands from the banned list, the applications were not resolved. People who got the lands in Telangana Peasant Movement and Telangana Armed Struggle, were not given the rights on the land, as the government had shown record in the name of those landlords who left for other cities and towns by leaving their lands in 1950s and 60s.

KCR Sarkar taking back the lands distributed to poor during Congress rule:

No patta books are being given to the lands given to the poor while the Congress was in power. KCR, who promised to resolve the issue of podu lands, is indeed trying to take back the lands from the innocent tribals. Nearly 24 lakh acres of the lands were distributed to the poor for cultivation by the erstwhile Congress governments, but many of the lands are being taken back on the pretext of constructing graveyards, Rythu Vedikas, Prakruthi Vanalu. The State government is running the real estate business by converting the land into plots. Three-acre land to Dalit scheme has been put on back burner.

These are just few issues plaguing Telangana farmers under KCR's rule and the list will go on. It is time to put an end to the woes of not just farmers but of students, youth, women, SC, ST, BC and Minorities. The only way to put an end to the problems of these sections is to put an end to the autocratic and uncaring government of TRS. Instead of development, equality, social justice newly formed Telangana has witnessed corruption, oppression and family rule of KCR.

CM KCR has become so arrogant that he is making a mockery of democracy. TRS Sarkar believes that peoples 'votes' can be purchased with currency 'notes'. Instead of focusing on ideologies and good governance, KCR is using cunning tactics and luring people with money earned through corruption. He is coming up with new dramas to get back to power for the third time using farmers. It is time people of Telangana realise the importance of putting an end to draconian TRS rule to ensure democracy and equitable development of all sections of the society.  We need to build a Telangana which respects the sacrifices of martyrs, ensures social justice, offers equal opportunities to people from all sections to progress in their fields and live with dignity. Rahul Gandhi's Rythu Sangarshana Sabha at Warangal will the be first step in that direction.