Farmers Protest Government Freeze on Rs 17.59 Crore Flood Relief Funds

Farmers have launched protests against the state government for freezing Rs 17.59 crore released as input subsidy compensation for crops damaged by floods along the Penganga River. The cultivators are demanding that the government lift the freeze, credit the funds directly to their bank accounts, and conduct a fresh survey to assess crop damage for the current season.

The compensation funds were sanctioned from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) following floods that occurred between August and September 2025. In-charge minister Jupally Krishna Rao had visited the flood-affected villages and promised compensation of Rs 10,000 per acre for damaged crops across 20,000 acres. However, affected farmers stated that they have not received any financial assistance so far.

To press their demands, Adilabad BJP MLA Payal Shankar recently took a delegation of affected farmers to Hyderabad to meet agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao. During the meeting, the MLA requested the minister to lift the freeze on the sanctioned relief funds.

Senior BJP leader C. Suhasini Reddy also organised meetings with farmers who missed out on compensation across Jainad, Bela, and Adilabad mandals. She subsequently led a protest rally in Adilabad town before submitting a memorandum to district officials outlining the farmers' grievances.

Local farmers reported that they have spent more than a year making repeated visits to the local agriculture office and the district collectorate, but have been unable to access their compensation due to the ongoing freeze.

Sangepu Borranna of Rytu Swarajya Vedika noted that standing crops of cotton and soya were submerged across 20,000 acres in Jainad, Bela, and Adilabad mandals last year. He added that farmers in these same mandals have faced renewed hardship after suffering additional crop damage during the Kharif season following fresh floods.