As Congress prepares to celebrate one year in office, the ruling party will be naive to believe all is hunky dory. The ground is shifting and there is hardly anything to cheer, for the party or the people.
Published Nov 18, 2024 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 18, 2024 | 4:45 PM
A paddy field. (iStock)
People expected the development seen during the BRS time to continue but most ongoing works have been stopped for want of funds. I am a Congress supporter but I feel something amiss,” Haider (30), a garage owner told South First.
A small diversion on the Hyderabad-Karimnagar highway takes one to Sanigaram village in Husnabad constituency. A 30-minute conversation with a group of villagers here is representative of the mood across Telangana on the eve of the Congress government completing one year in office.
To merely say that the ruling party is in trouble tantamounts to being too nice to the Congress.
At Sanigaram, one gets an answer to almost every question that a reader of politics would like to pose. “There is no sense of direction”, pats comes the reply the moment one asks about the performance of the Congress government. Fifty-year-old Ramulu, chatting with his fellow villagers, tells you that there is severe discontent over part/faulty implementation of crop loan waiver, non-disbursement of Rythu Bandhu (annual financial support to farmers usually given in July) and enhanced old age pension not becoming a reality.
A few schemes like free bus ride for women and free power up to 200 units have been implemented but sadly for the government, people are not awarding marks for their implementation.
“We don’t know why loans were waived for some while others did not get the benefit. Banks have no answer. Worse, Rythu Bandhu has not given so far. We were hopeful that the money would come by Dasara festival as promised but even that did not happen. Forget about the enhancement promised by the Congress (the party promised ₹15,000 per acre as against ₹10,000 given during the KCR regime). Let the government at least release what was given before,” fumes Ramulu. Does he regret having voted for the Congress? “We have to slap ourselves,” he says.
It was at this very village that Durgaiah, a Dalit, told this correspondent in November last year that they wanted a change. The KCR government did a decent job, most felt, and yet they yearned for a different dispensation. South First had then predicted a Congress victory in the Assembly elections.
It was on 7 December, 2023, that the Congress government led by A Revanth Reddy came into being. It trounced the BRS which was in power for two consecutive terms since the formation of Telangana in 2014. But it has all changed in just about an year. A sense of regret and discontent, that the current government has not been able to fulfil the majority of its promises, is palpable.
Top of the mind is loan waiver. In their poll manifesto, the Congress had promised to waive all crop loans up to ₹2 lakhs. However, only 50-60 percent of the farmers who had taken the loan have received the waiver in the three tranches so far.
This is the case in almost all the villages. As the South First team crisscrossed Ranga Reddy, Mahboobnagar, Medak, Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts, the feeling among people was that the Congress over-promised and under-delivered.
While some are willing to wait for a short while for the government to arrange funds and fix issues, the majority are disappointed at the state of affairs.
Despite 50 percent of farmers receiving the crop loan waiver, this group is neither content nor fully satisfied.
While they are happy that the loan is waived, the atmosphere in the villages has been awkward for them. There would be some neighbours, friends or relatives who have not received the waiver.
This has left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth — both, the ones who received it and those who didn’t. The ones who were denied the waiver are confused about why they did not get it. Some blamed the banks for not giving clarity, and some the government for changing the rules after announcing the guarantee. They are forced to visit the bank multiple times, wait long hours, and still return confused.
In Gajwel in Medak district, a 40-year-old farmer and his mother had an outstanding loan of more than ₹2 lakh (combined) but since they had the same ration card, neither got any benefit. Rather, they felt that at least one of them should have received the waiver. Several people also opined that those with smaller amounts were being approved but those with bigger amounts — more than ₹1 lakh or ₹1.5 lakh were being denied.
College lecturer Madhu of Kodangal in Mahboobnagar — the constituency represented by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy— pointed out that only 78 out of the 450 loans in his village were waived. “Farmers are facing mounting debts due to the non-disbursement of Rythu Bandhu. In some months, even the pension payments are getting delayed,” he told South First.
“People were frustrated within five months after the formation of the government. You could see it in the results of the Lok Sabha elections held in June this year,” Haider said.
The Congress won only eight of the 17 Lok Sabha seas with the BJP bagging an equal number. The Hyderabad seat was retained by the AIMIM —locally known as Majlis. For multiple reasons including the fact that it is a regional party, the BRS could not position itself well during Lok Sabha polls as a result of which the BJP gained at its expense.
Interestingly, whenever reference was made to Rythu Bharosa, people also drew comparisons with the PM-KISAN scheme (unanimously called Modi ‘paisalu’) which had been credited on time for the last four to five years and has never been missed. They pointed to how the scheme was run smoothly without any hiccups — like name mismatch, Aadhar links, etc — despite being run by the Union government but the loan waiver implemented by the state government was riddled with so many problems.
Rythu Bharosa has become an integral part of the planning by farmers and had a significant impact on the economic system established in rural areas because of its predictable disbursement. Over the years, farmers got used to utilising the amount to purchase agricultural inputs at the beginning of the season. This year, they had to depend on private loans at high interest rates (commonly at 36 percent) to meet their needs.
Surprisingly, the free bus ride scheme for women has also not brought any positive image to the government. Even women are not satisfied as they are discontent about congestion and fighting among them across ages on who gets seats on the buses. Men, of course, are distressed about the scheme.
Despite having to pay the fare, they do not get a seat and have to stand throughout the journey. Men between 20 and 30 years of age who travel to work or colleges in the neighbouring towns, and cities daily are the worst affected.
Roja, a bright home-maker, who supports her husband’s tailor shop in Duddeda in the Medak district, opined that instead of free bus rides for women, the government could provide a concession for both genders or utilise the funds for any other scheme which has widespread benefits to the general public.
She was more concerned about the rising prices of pulses, and vegetables which have a daily impact on their quality of life, pointing out in the same breath that the promised enhancement of pension for the elderly from ₹2,000 to ₹4,000 has not happened.
The same is true of zero bills for up to 200 units of electricity consumed in households. The scheme is largely in place, but the impact has been padded due to two reasons. One, people see little financial benefit in this as their average monthly savings due to this vary between ₹150 and ₹300 which seems like a poor trade-off with Rythu Bharosa. Two, people feel that power cuts have increased since the Congress government took charge. They claim that they would rather pay the bill and get a continuous supply.
Across all the locations, labourers and construction workers noticed that work opportunities have reduced in the last six months. A slump in real estate, and consequently construction activity, combined with few government projects under execution meant a considerable loss of employment for the daily labour force.
“It’s not just about promises and their implementation. The mood among people is that the government is not focussed on issues that matter to us. Congressmen are busy abusing the BRS leaders and the latter are too happy to give it back. We are the losers,” says Naganna, sitting in a salon opposite the Narketpally bus stand.
As it prepares to celebrate one year in office, the ruling party will be naive to believe all is hunky dory. The ground is shifting and there is hardly anything to cheer for the people. And that is not good news for those in power.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
