BRS starts helpline to assist farmers denied loan waiver

Hyderabad: The BRS will set up a cell in Telangana Bhavan for assisting farmers who have ‘pattadar’ passbooks, and their loan of Rs 1.5 lakh is not waived by issuing a WhatsApp number so that the party can bring this to the government’s notice.

Former Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy, MLA KP Vivekanand, and others addressed a press conference here on Monday. Reddy released the WhatsApp number, 8374852619, for farmers. “If farmers can give their details, we will take them to the government and help them. There will be two experts available at the call centre at any given time,” he said. The BRS leader said farmers' illusions about Congress have disappeared now. ‘The government's ‘Rythu Bandhu’ and ‘Rythu Bharosa’ are a big zero’.

He asked why the State Cabinet did not discuss Rythu Bharosa and why it was not announced in the Legislature. He alleged that attempts were being made to give the illusion that everything was over after a partial loan waiver. ‘The Congress lied wholesale to farmers for votes. They boasted that they would waive a loan of Rs two lakh on December 9. They said it would cost Rs 40,000 crore. They gave newspaper advertisements for Rs 31,000 crore, and finally they waived only Rs 6,000 crore of 11.2 lakh farmers’.