Telangana at top in farmer- centric policies in country

New Delhi: When it comes to safeguarding the interests of farmers, the Telangana government, which is led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, is much more committed to the comprehensive welfare of farmers as Telangana is the only state in the country to provide 24x7 free power to the agriculture sector.

Besides, Telangana is the first state in the country to introduce the Rythu Bandhu scheme providing crop input assistance to the tune of Rs.10,000 per annum. In the last eight seasons, the Telangana government has assisted 63 lakh farmers by providing financial assistance worth Rs 50,448 crore.

The Rythu Bima scheme was introduced to support farmers' families in the event of their accidental death with a 100 per cent premium paid by the government and claims settlement within 10 days of death through LIC to the tune of Rs 5 lakh. According to a government document, the Telangana government's insurance money has reached 80,600 affected farmer families and the state government has also given debt relief of Rs22,000 crore to 35 lakh farmers.

"Telangana is the only state in the country that has rescinded water cess arrears and also permanently withdrawn the water tax. In the state, farmers get free water for their lands from all irrigation projects," it said.