Hyderabad: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday released Rs 2,482 crore towards Rythu Bharosa to nearly 42 lakh farmers and announced that the state govt will deposit, in all, Rs 9,000 crore in farmers’ bank accounts in nine days.Addressing a public meeting after releasing Rythu Bharosa funds at Shilpakala Vedika at Hi-Tec City, the CM appealed to the farmers to cultivate seven varieties of paddy specified by govt for which there was a market. In view of the El Nino threat and forecast of less rain, farmers should take up crops which were less water intensive as against large-scale paddy cultivation.Revanth also dedicated much of his speech to explain to the farmers that the Congress govt has spent 1.75 lakh crore for the welfare of farmers in the last 30 months and called upon them not to fall prey to the narratives put out by T Harish Rao and K T Rama Rao.“It seems the Kalvakuntla family is under a curse where telling a single truth would cause their heads to shatter into a thousand pieces. I have already detained Pashupati in the farm house like the negative character in Telugu movie ‘Arundhati’,” Revanth said, referring to KCR.The CM also took a dig at BJP national president Nitin Nabin’s comments that BJP will come to power in Telangana in the next elections.“The KCR-led BRS govt reduced a revenue surplus Telangana into a debt-ridden state. The total debt incurred by Telangana (region) – accumulated from the tenures of 18 chief ministers since 1947, was only ₹69,000 crore. When Telangana was formed on June 2, 2014, the outstanding debt stood at ₹69,000 crore. The state debt reached Rs 8.11 lakh crore by the time the people’s (Congress) govt was sworn in on Dec 7, 2023. The KCR family alone incurred a debt of over ₹7 lakh crore, plunging the state deep into a debt trap,” CM Revanth claimed.After the Congress came to power, there were massive debts, borrowed from every source by the previous govt, he said.“We cannot simply wear a sherwani and call ourselves ‘nawabs’. We are not ‘nawabs’. We have been reduced to ‘bhikaris’ (beggers) due to the Rs 8.11 lakh crore debt left behind by the previous KCR govt. We are steering a devastated Telangana towards progress,” the CM added.“I will not run a govt built on a foundation of lies. The Musi rejuvenation project, Regional Ring Road and Metro Rail expansion will be taken up despite the opposition trying to create hurdles. I have no desire to wear crowns or amass wealth. Power is not permanent. It is the farmers’ responsibility to safeguard this govt,” the CM added.
