Agriculture Minister S. Niranjan Reddy said that Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy was making false claims on the Central government’s agricultural policies to mislead the farmers, but the facts are naked and in the open.
“Is extending financial assistance of ₹20 lakh crore to the farm sector great? Has the urea produced in Ramagundam factory reached any farmer? Had anyone benefited? Is it not a fact that beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana fell down from 11 crore to 3 crore? Is it not true that Fasal Beema Yojana was more beneficial to insurance companies than farmers and premium was high?” asked Mr. Niranjan Reddy in a release here on Saturday. He was responding to the claims of Mr. Kishan Reddy in a press conference earlier in the day.
Informing that the Centre has extended only ₹9,000 crore under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana in the last four years, the Minister wondered why the Centre has been forgetting that Telangana has extended assistance of ₹65,000 crore to farmers during the same period.
“The Centre must speak about the cost of cultivation being borne by farmers instead of the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Instead of doubling the income of farmers by 2022, the Centre has increased the operational costs of farmers. It has not been considering the requests by States to announce MSP State-wise after taking the cost of cultivation. Why did Mr. Kishan Reddy fail to seek national status for either Kaleshwaram or Palamuru- Ranga Reddy project?” asked the Agriculture Minister.
