TRS accuses Centre of diluting Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme

Hyderabad: The TRS party on Tuesday accused the Central government of diluting the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna, inspired from Telangana's Rythu Bandhu, by decreasing the beneficiaries by 90 per cent.

The allegations were made by the Rythu Bandhu Samithi chairman Palla Rajeshwar Reddy in a press conference in the City on Tuesday. The chairman said that the Centre, inspired by Telangana government's Rythu Bandhu scheme, started Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna by offering Rs 2,000 per acre in three instalments.

When the scheme was initiated, the Centre had identified 14.5 crore farmers and offered to provide Rs 85,500 crore. Now, under its 12th phase, the Centre has given benefits to only around 3.85 crore farmers, essentially removing almost 90 per cent of the farmers. "The Centre is coming up with policies which are making the farmers run away from farming and hand it over to the corporates," said Rajeshwar Reddy.

The TRS leader said that the Telangana government provided Rs 5,236 crore to 50 lakh farmers in 2018 and this was increased to Rs 7,433 crore, providing benefits to 64.99 lakh farmers in 2022. He said that the Centre was bringing in conditions to curtail down the list and are not giving it to two members in the family and if they pay tax, the benefit is removed.

He said that the party would take up protests along with the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on the issue and added that the majority of farmer suicides were in the states ruled by BJP which includes Maharashtra and Karnataka. "About 1800 farmers died in Maharashtra in nine months," he alleged.