Hyderabad: BRS senior leader T Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government in Telangana pushed the state’s Civil Supplies Corporation into an Rs 1 lakh crore debt and was harassing the ration dealers by not paying bills.
Speaking at the Telangana Ration Dealers’ meeting in Gajwel, Harish Rao questioned the Congress government on whether people must sacrifice their lives to get their work done. The government paid one ration dealer's bill of Rs 5 crore after he died, and that was the situation of ration dealers in Congress rule, he added.
“When Congress MLA Anirudh Reddy himself says he is ready to die to secure pending bills, and the Ration Dealers' Association president Raju says he is prepared to sacrifice his life to resolve dealers’ problems, does it mean that bills will be cleared only if someone dies under Congress rule?” he asked.
Rao alleged that the Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, made wrong decisions that had pushed the Civil Supplies Corporation into debts of nearly Rs 1 lakh crore. “The coarse rice stocks worth Rs 600 crore had been left unused in warehouses and ration shops for the past 16 months, allowing insects, rats and other pests to damage them,” he added.
BRS leader also said the government has money for a new Chief Minister’s camp office at Rs 100 crore, to build a compound wall at Rs 18 crore, to organise beauty pageants and host football shows. “But does it not have enough money to pay an honorarium of Rs 10 crore per month to 17,200 ration dealers?” he questioned.
He accused the Congress of betraying ration dealers after securing their support during the Assembly elections by promising a monthly honourarium of Rs 5,000, a commission of Rs 300 per quintal and the conversion of ration shops into mini-supermarkets.
Rao termed it shameful that even after nearly three years, civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy had allegedly failed to grant an appointment to representatives of the ration dealers’ association.
Harish Rao said ration dealers who ensured food security for poor families were themselves struggling to make ends meet under Congress rule, as there was no increase of even one rupee paid to them.
Rao also alleged that the state government is not releasing funds to the corporation for fine rice distribution, bonuses for fine paddy varieties and gas cylinder subsidies. Instead, the government is directing the corporation to borrow money to meet these expenses.
Ration dealers can survive only if the Civil Supplies Corporation remains financially strong, he said, adding that if the corporation goes bankrupt, the dealers will also be ruined.
“The BRS will extend its full support to ration dealers until their problems are resolved. We will exert pressure on the government in both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council,” Harish Rao asserted.