State government will go ahead with its schemes aimed at benefiting the farmers: CM KCR

In his 90-minute address at the Siddipet Collectorate, Chandrashekhar Rao pointed out that Telangana had undergone a massive transformation in the last seven years, but hastened to add that it was only the beginning of a long journey. The State government, he said, was addressing the problems faced by the people of the State one by one. He also lashed out at the Opposition criticism of several schemes and programmes launched by the State government, advising them to learn to appreciate the good work being done.

“The State government will go ahead with its schemes aimed at benefitting the farmers, regardless of any criticism. Ours is a farmer-centric government since agriculture provides livelihood to a majority population of the State. 

We launched the Rythu Bandhu scheme after weighing all options and are depositing the amount directly into the bank accounts of farmers to prevent corruption,” Chandrashekhar Rao said, adding that about Rs 15,000 crore was being spent every year on the Rythu Bandhu scheme with 95 per cent of the funds being used efficiently by the farmers.

Chandrashekhar Rao recalled that the people of Telangana suffered under the rule of Andhra leaders in undivided Andhra Pradesh, particularly in areas of water and power supply. He shared his experiences in getting sub-stations and transformers sanctioned for his



constituency during his tenure as a legislator in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. 

He stated that the current legislators were a fortunate lot since the State government had addressed all these issues and was installing power sub-stations as per their requests. “I saw reservoirs and tanks besides Haldi and Koodavelli streams brimming to their full capacity even in April and May. This is the kind of Telangana we all fought for,” he said.

While some politicians may claim that he does not believe in God, the Chief Minister pointed out that most of the irrigation schemes were named after Gods like Mallana Sagar and Ranganayaka Sagar. The Chief Minister narrated how he, along with Prof Jayashankar and former member of Central Water Commission R Vidyasagar Rao, formulated the Mission Kakatiya programme to address the water needs in the State just a few months before State formation.

“The chain of tanks developed by the Kakatiya rulers were revived under the programme to supply irrigation water to agriculture lands. Consequently, Telangana has now surpassed Punjab and emerged as top producer of paddy with over 3 crore tonnes of paddy production last year,” he stated and pointed out that about 11 States were now emulating the Mission Kakatiya programme which is evidence to its success.