HYDERABAD
Members of Treasury Benches (Congress) and the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) were at loggerheads in the Assembly on Saturday, while taking credit for the success of various schemes during their governance and highlighting failure in the same during the other’s rule as part of the debate on demand for grants.
A total of six demands of the animal husbandry and fisheries, agriculture, cooperation, labour and employment, medical and health and transport departments with an outlay of ₹35,817 crore together were taken up for voting. The claims and counter claims were mostly on implementation of the farm loan waiver scheme during the present and previous rule.
Congress member V. Srihari, who initiated the debate on demands, said that there was large-scale corruption, about ₹700 crore, in the sheep flock scheme with officials, politicians and middlemen (traders) involved in siphoning off money. The previous government had claimed that it had distributed 4.25 lakh sheep with about ₹5,000 crore. The recent livestock enumeration found availability of only 1.62 crore sheep in the State against 7 crore that should have been available.
On the farm loan waiver scheme, BRS member P. Kaushik Reddy said the government has not allocated any money for it in the recent budget giving indication that farmers left out due to various reasons would be left uncovered. He pointed out that against the announcement of ₹37,000 crore for loan waiver scheme, only ₹20,617 crore was released. He cited several examples of eligible farmers not getting both the waiver benefit and Rythu Bharosa (even up to 3 acres holding) in his Huzurabad constituency.
Two other members of the Congress K. Shankariah and A. Srinivas pointed out that about 10% farmers were yet to get farm loan waiver benefit, despite them being eligible due to various reasons and requested the government examine the issues and implement the loan waiver to them too.
A. Laxman Kumar of the Congress suggested the government to shuffle the cooperative societies’ staff as they were working at one place for 15-20 years leading to corrupt practices. K. Sambasiva Rao of CPI urged the government to implement Rythu Bharosa to 22 lakh tenant farmers.
While explaining the progress made by Telangana in the public health sector during 2014-2024, he complimented the present government for resuming the KCR Kit scheme, although with a different name.
Mir Zulfeqar Ali, K. Venkataramana Reddy, B. Ilaiah, K. Rajesh Reddy, M.S. Raj Thakur, T. Harish Rao and others also spoke on the demands.
Published – March 22, 2025 08:39 pm IST