Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister and Kalaburagi District in-charge, Priyank Kharge, said that farmers in Kalaburagi district have received crop insurance compensation amounting to ₹650 crore, the highest in the State so far.
He was speaking after inaugurating a felicitation programme organised at the Veerashaiva Lingayat Kalyana Mantapa in Aland on Saturday to thank the government for facilitating crop insurance compensation of ₹225 crore.
Mr. Priyank said that over 4 lakh farmers in Kalaburagi district had received compensation under the crop insurance scheme. “For the current agricultural year (2025–26), as many as 3,00,952 farmers have enrolled under the crop insurance scheme,” he said.
Recalling the situation during the previous BJP regime, Mr. Priyank said that when pigeon pea crops were damaged by wilt disease, the government at the time had failed to provide any compensation to affected farmers. “Even when heavy rains caused extensive crop loss, then Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa did not visit the affected areas. He had returned from the airport itself,” he said.
Pointing to current years rains and resultant crop loss across the district, Mr. Priyank said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas and held meetings with people’s representatives and officials and promised to provide additional compensation of ₹8,500 per hectare from the State exchequer, over and above the assistance sanctioned by the Centre under NDRF norms.
Highlighting the impact of the State government’s guarantee schemes, Mr. Priyank said that initiatives such as Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, Shakti, Yuva Nidhi and Anna Bhagya had improved the financial condition of the poor. “These benefits are reaching everyone – not just Congress supporters but even BJP workers. Yet, the BJP leaders continue to criticise these schemes. They should at least feel a sense of shame,” he remarked.
Referring to the implementation of Article 371(J), the Minister said that since its enforcement, the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) has been receiving an annual grant of ₹5,000 crore. “During the Congress regime, major institutions such as ESIC Hospital, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, and several educational establishments such as Central University of Karnataka and were set up in Kalaburagi. Constructive criticism on development is welcome, but baseless political propaganda must stop,” he asserted.
Mr. Kharge said that under the Kalyana Patha and Pragati Patha schemes, road development works were being implemented, covering nearly 8,257 km of rural roads in the district.
‘Vote theft’
Touching upon the issue of Vote Chori (vote theft), he said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had raised concerns earlier, but it was B.R. Patil, MLA and Vice-Chairman of the State Planning Board, who substantiated the claims with evidence. “The matter has now taken a serious turn, and soon, through investigation, the people will know how the BJP conspired against democracy and the Constitution,” he said, urging the people to continue to support Mr. Patil as well as him.
Presiding over the event, B.R. Patil said that widespread crop losses due to natural calamities had pushed farmers to distress. “Farmers must at least get a minimum support price for their produce to survive. Thousands of farmers have died protesting across the country, yet the Prime Minister has not even expressed condolence,” he said.
Mr. Patil pointed out that while Maharashtra received ₹1.30 lakh crore as relief from the Centre, Karnataka was granted only ₹40,000 crore. “This injustice must be fought collectively,” he said, adding that ₹60 crore was being spent under the Amrit scheme to provide drinking water to Aland town.
MLC Tippannappa Kamakanur, GESCOM Chairman Praveen Harawal, Deputy Commissioner Fouzia Taranum, Superintendent of Police Adduru Srinivasulu and Zilla Panchayat CEO Bhanwar Singh Meena were among those present.