HYDERABAD: Famous freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale had once said: “What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.” Perhaps, not anymore. On Monday, the West Bengal government announced that it would give farmers in the State Rs 5,000 per acre per year as investment support and `2 lakh free insurance as well. These are quite similar to Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bhima, Telangana government’s flagship schemes.

However, while West Bengal seems to have been inspired by Telangana, it has not been able to match it in terms of monetary benefits extended to farmers.From 2019, Telangana will provide `10,000 per acre to farmers for two crops every year, double of what Bengal has announced. Even the insurance amount in Telangana, Rs 5 lakh, is more than double that Bengal’s Rs 2 lakh.

In fact, Bengal is not the first State to announce schemes similar to Rythu Bandhu and Rythu Bhima. Odisha and Jharkhand have done it too. Perhaps this is what Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had in mind when he had said, at a recent press conference, his Federal Front’s aim was not to unite regional parties but to implement a Telangana’s ‘farmer’s agenda’ in the country.

“Our aim is to ensure that the farmer’s agenda implemented in Telangana is implemented across the country,” he had said.Rao had recently met with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and discussed about the two programmes and their apparent benefits. It seems Bannerjee has warmed up to Rao’s suggestions.

Reacting to West Bengal’s announcement, Telangana Rashtra Samiti working president KT Rama Rao on Monday tweeted: “After Odisha and Jharkhand States, now it is the turn of Bengal to emulate the Rythu Bandhu and  Rythu Bheema schemes launched by Telangana under the leadership of KCR Garu.
What Telangana thinks/does today, India follows tomorrow”.