Hyderabad:

In Telangana, which is going to the polls next month, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao released his party’s election manifesto that tries to one-up the Congress, which announced six guarantees if voted to power.

KCR’s party, the BRS, has decided to increase the amount farmers receive as direct cash transfers under the Rythu Bandhu scheme – a welfare programme that supports the farmers’ investments for two crops a year. Farmers who now get Rs 10,000 a year per acre will get Rs 16,000 a year per acre in a staggered manner, starting with an extra Rs 2000 in 2024.

The Congress has promised Rs 15,000 per year per acre to not just farmers who own land but also to tenant farmers.

Aasra, or old age and widow pension, will go up to Rs 5,000 from the current Rs 2,016 in a phased manner. Beneficiaries will get Rs 3,000 in the next year. 

Similarly, the pension for the disabled will be raised to Rs 6,000 in a staggered manner over five years.

All families below the poverty line, which is around 93 lakh households in the state, will be covered under a risk insurance scheme on the lines of the Rythu Bima Scheme with a payout of Rs 5 lakh in cases of deaths.

These families will also get Rs 15 lakh for hospital treatments, fine rice as part of their monthly ration, and gas cylinders at Rs 400 per cylinder. The Congress, looking to wrest power in the state, has offered to provide cylinders at Rs 500 per cylinder.

The poll promises will be implemented within six months of coming to power, KCR said.

The Chief Minister today also issued B-forms to 69 candidates though he had announced 115 candidate names in August. A few changes have been made to the list.

Mynampally Hanumantha Rao, who was given a BRS ticket from Malkajgiri before he switched to Congress, has been replaced by Marri Rajasekhar Reddy.

Telangana will vote on November 30 to elect 119 legislators to the state assembly. The votes will be counted on December 3.