Harish Rao Accuses Congress Government of Neglecting Persons With Disabilities

Former minister T Harish Rao has alleged that the Congress government owes ₹66,000 to each person with a disability in Telangana, accusing the administration of failing to implement its welfare promises. He made these remarks while addressing the Samara Shankharavam meeting held at GSR Convention Hall in Hastinapuram on Saturday.

Harish Rao stated that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's government had pledged to provide a ₹6,000 monthly pension, free bus travel, reservations in local bodies, and recruitment for backlog vacancies. However, he claimed that the pension amount has not been increased by even one rupee and that disbursements have become irregular across the state.

According to Harish Rao, Telangana has approximately 5.11 lakh persons with disabilities. He calculated that if the promised ₹6,000 monthly pension had been disbursed over the past 33 months, each beneficiary would have received roughly ₹66,000 more than what they were paid. He added that in several cases, pension payouts have remained pending for up to three months.

Highlighting the previous administration's welfare measures, Harish Rao said the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government raised the monthly disability pension from ₹500 to ₹4,016. He noted that over its 10-year tenure, the BRS government spent around ₹54,000 crore on Aasara pensions, of which about ₹10,300 crore went toward pensions for persons with disabilities.

Harish Rao also pointed out that the previous government had provided 5% reservation in 2-BHK housing schemes alongside 4% reservation in education and employment sectors for people with disabilities, earning a national award in 2015 for implementing the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.

Criticising the current administration's spending priorities, Harish Rao alleged that the government has allocated funds for beauty pageants, football tournaments, publicity campaigns, and large contractors while neglecting social security. He also claimed that the state government has sold government land worth around ₹30,000 crore, arguing that financial constraints cannot be cited as an excuse for withholding pension payments to vulnerable communities.