Hans News Service Khammam

DeputyChief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday said the Congress government is committed to transforming Telangana into a “farmers’ state” by prioritising agriculture and ensuring timely financial assistance to cultivators.

Addressing a press conference after inspecting arrangements for the ‘Rythu Ashirvada Sabha’ at Jagannadhapuram–Mathkepalli Cross Road in Chinthakani mandal, the Deputy Chief Minister said the government’s vision is to make agriculture “a festival” by extending comprehensive support to the farming community.

Bhatti Vikramarka announced that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with Cabinet colleagues, would participate in the Rythu Ashirvada Sabha on Friday in Khammam district, where the final instalment of the Rythu Bharosa assistance for the current season would be credited directly to farmers’ bank accounts.

He said the government had already released Rs 8,759 crore under the scheme in just nine days and that another Rs 1,009 crore would be transferred on Friday, taking the total disbursement to nearly Rs 9,000 crore for the season.

The Deputy Chief Minister said agriculture and allied sectors have received top priority since the Congress assumed office, describing farmers’ welfare as the government’s foremost objective.

Drawing a comparison with the previous BRS administration, Bhatti Vikramarka claimed that while the former government had spent Rs 72,000 crore on Rythu Bandhu over a decade, the Congress government released Rs 35,839 crore under the Rythu Bharosa scheme in just two-and-a-half years.

Inaugurating the Mega Rythu Mela at Jagannadhapuram in Chinthakani mandal along with Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, Bhatti said the Indiramma People’s Government has been investing thousands of crores of rupees in irrigation, agriculture, paddy procurement, MARKFED operations, farm mechanisation and several other initiatives aimed at strengthening the farming sector. Referring to the recently concluded procurement season, he said the administration had also procured maize and sorghum despite various challenges.

Bhatti Vikramarka claimed the opposition had no moral authority to question the Congress government’s commitment to farmers. He said the government was prepared to substantiate its performance with official figures and maintained that it believed in governance through implementation rather than speeches.

Highlighting irrigation initiatives, he said water was now flowing through the Nagarjuna Sagar, Sri Ram Sagar and Kadem irrigation projects, reflecting the government’s emphasis on strengthening the agricultural sector.

The Deputy Chief Minister accused opposition parties of indulging in misinformation and alleged that the previous BRS government had concentrated its resources on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, whose present condition, he claimed, was evident to the public. In contrast, he said, irrigation projects constructed during earlier Congress governments continued to provide water to farmers decades after their completion.

He said the event had been named ‘Rythu Ashirvada Sabha’ at the request of farmers themselves and appealed to cultivators from across the State to attend the programme in large numbers and make it a grand success.