Free insurance, subsidised LPG cylinders part of BRS manifesto

Hyderabad: A free life insurance cover of up to ₹5 lakh for each family below poverty line (BPL), a gradual increase in financial assistance to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu scheme in the next five years and supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder at ₹400 – these were among a slew of promises announced by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Sunday ahead of the assembly elections next month.

Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan, BRS chief and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, said his government had implemented all the promises it made during the 2018 elections to make the state number 1 in all aspects, and expressed confidence that his party would return to power in this year’s polls.

“We have the country’s best economic policy, agriculture policy, drinking water policy, irrigation policy, power policy, Dalit policy, welfare policy, industrial policy and housing policy, which are successfully being implemented. The present manifesto is aimed at not only continuing all these policies, but also introducing new schemes that would improve the livelihood of all sections of people… the BRS will return to power,” he said.

Voting in Telangana is scheduled to be held on November 30; the results will be announced on December 3.

Explaining his party manifesto, the chief minister said around 9,300,000 families in the BPL category would be provided a life insurance cover of up to ₹5 lakh for free under KCR Bima, a scheme that would be introduced on the lines of Rythu Bima scheme – if his party was voted back to power.

The Rythu Bima scheme is an agricultural insurance scheme launched by the Telangana government in August 2018 to provide insurance coverage and financial assistance to farmers who die due to distress or commit suicide on account of crop failure due to natural calamity or pest attack etc.

“The government itself will pay 100% premium to the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for all the beneficiaries. It will not only provide relief to the poor families, but also save the LIC from being pushed into losses,” he said.

The party also promised distribution of fine rice to all ration card holders under the Telangana Annapurna Scheme with effect from April-May 2024.At present, the Telangana government is supplying rice at ₹1 a kg, besides rice supplied by the Centre free of cost under Garib Kalyan Yojana.

The chief minister announced to enhance the social security pensions for senior citizens and women under the “Aasara” scheme, from the present ₹2,016 per month each to ₹6,000 in the next five years. “In the coming year, it will be made ₹3,016 and will be gradually enhanced to ₹6,000 in the next five years,” he said.

“The Divyangs (people with disabilities) have already been promised ₹4,016 from this year and it will be increased to ₹6,000 gradually,” he added.

The party also announced an increase in financial assistance to farmers in the state, from the present ₹10,000 each per year, under the Rythu Bandhu scheme. “This will be increased to ₹12,000 in the first year and gradually ₹16,000 in the next five years. Paddy procurement policy will continue,” Rao said.

The party assured a financial assistance of ₹3,000 per month to each eligible poor woman, under the new Soubhagya Lakshmi scheme , if it is voted to power.

KCR promised to supply LPG cylinders at a subsidised rate of ₹400 to each eligible BPL family if the BRS returns to form the government.

“This is to provide relief to women who are being burdened with ever-increasing LPG prices by the Centre. The state government itself will bear the subsidy burden,” he said, adding that the subsidised LPG cylinders would be made available to even families of accredited journalists.

The manifesto announced the implementation of a new health scheme, called “KCR Arogya Raksha”, to provide cashless treatment of up to ₹15 lakh at private hospitals to all eligible persons. Under an existing Arogyasri scheme, the limit is ₹10 lakh. “We shall also extend this health scheme to accredited journalists,” the chief minister said.

The party promised to continue constructing double-bedroom houses, for another 100,000 poor families, besides paying ₹5 lakh to those who own their house site if it returns to power.

In its poll manifesto, the BRS vowed to construct 119 residential schools for economically weaker sections among the upper caste people, one in each constituency, on the lines of the existing residential institutions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and minorities. He also promised to upgrade some of the residential junior colleges into degree colleges.

The party promised a policy for orphan children. “The state government will adopt these orphaned children and call them ‘State Children’ and provide them all educational facilities,” KCR said.

The chief minister assured to bring out a policy to ensure that the poor are able to sell their assigned government lands whenever they are in need of money.

For minorities, the chief minister declared that the budgetary allocation for their welfare would be enhanced substantially, to protect the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb in the state.

In Telangana, the BRS, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are locked in a triangular fight with some early surveys suggesting a neck-and-neck battle between the regional behemoth and the Congress. The results will be crucial not only for the 2024 polls, but also opposition dynamics because the BRS has maintained equal distance from the National Democratic Alliance and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. The BRS has ruled the state since it was formed in 2014 but is battling anti-incumbency and corruption charges.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy said the promises made in the BRS manifesto were a copy of the six guarantees announced by the Congress for Telangana elections. “When we announced six guarantees, the BRS leaders said they cannot be implemented. Now, the ruling party has made more or less similar promises with slight modifications. It shows that the BRS is afraid of our guarantees,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party state president G Kishan Reddy ridiculed the promises made by KCR in the latest manifesto for the coming elections. “Many promises he had made before the 2018 assembly elections, such as three acres of land for Dalits, unemployment allowance to the jobless youth, reopening of loss-making public sector undertakings, setting up of industrial corridor between Hyderabad and Warangal, financial assistance for construction of houses, etc, were not implemented,” he said, adding that except the schemes which were funded by the Centre, no other scheme was properly implemented in the last five years.