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Harish Rao slams govt over El Niño preparedness
In Short
BRS leader seeks alternative jobs and financial aid for distressed farmers, demands release of pending Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima funds
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BRSLP Deputy Leader T Harish Rao
Hyderabad: BRS LP Deputy Leader T Harish Rao accused the state government on Monday of failing to prepare for El Niño weather conditions despite nine months of warnings, demanding that authorities provide alternative employment and financial support to distressed farming families.
Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Monday, Harish Rao stated that officials sent messages asking farmers to assemble at Rythu Vedikas for a scheduled video conference with the Chief Minister, only for the meeting to be repeatedly rescheduled and cancelled, with claims that the Deputy Chief Minister would attend instead. Questioning government competence during an agricultural crisis, he asked why the Chief Minister travelled to Goa while ministers visited Delhi as farmers waited.
Harish Rao questioned advisories telling farmers to avoid Rabi sowings, asking how cultivators and daily-wage agricultural labourers would survive without work, demanding a concrete alternative action plan. He noted that farm workers from Palamuru and Jogulamba Gadwal are migrating to Karnataka for employment, reversing previous BRS-era migration curbs.
Highlighting agrarian distress, Rao claimed many regions receive only six to seven hours of erratic power supply, forcing farmers to protest at substations while crops wither. He asked why Naini coal reserves were neglected and why Krishna and Godavari river waters, including Devadula and Kannepalli pump houses, were underutilised.
Demanding immediate disbursement of pending Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bima funds, Harish Rao warned the administration against relying solely on letters to the Centre or hollow statements, insisting on practical relief plans.
