Revanth Reddy government yet to announce financial safeguards against El Nino

Hyderabad: More than three weeks after likening the El Nino threat to the Covid-19 pandemic and seeking public participation to tackle the looming crisis, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is yet to announce any concrete measures to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of people. Unlike the K Chandrashekhar Rao government, which deferred the salaries of elected representatives, officials and employees during the pandemic, the Congress government has taken no measure to share the financial burden of the crisis.

The contrast is significant. In March 2020, faced with a sharp fall in revenues and mounting expenditure during the lockdown, the then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao did not wait for Central assistance. Instead, he ordered the deferment of salaries and remuneration across the political and administrative establishment.

The Chief Minister, Ministers, MLAs, MLCs, corporation chairpersons and elected local-body representatives faced a 75 per cent deferment. It was 60 per cent for IAS, IPS and IFS officers, 50 per cent for regular government employees and 10 per cent for Class-IV, outsourcing and contract staff. Police, Medical and Health personnel and municipal sanitation workers were exempted. Pension deferment was later reduced from 50 to 25 per cent following judicial intervention.

The deferment covered March, April and May 2020. Full salaries and pensions were restored from June, and the withheld amounts were paid in four instalments. Though temporary, the measure specified how the political and administrative establishment would share the immediate financial strain.

The move was intended to create fiscal space as the lockdown sharply reduced tax and non-tax revenues, even as expenditure on Covid-19 control and relief increased. An estimated Rs 3,500 crore was pooled through salary deferment, freeing up resources for health and public welfare expenditure.

On the other hand, Revanth Reddy invoked the Covid experience to underline the seriousness of the El Nino threat and appealed for public cooperation. He has asked farmers to defer one crop, particularly Yasangi (Rabi) paddy, to conserve water and electricity. He has also sought a 60:40 financial arrangement with the Centre to support farmers who suffered crop losses and those foregoing cultivation.

Yet, the government has announced neither a comparable salary deferment nor any specific financial contribution from elected representatives and officials. It has also failed to put in place a comprehensive contingency plan to protect farmers’ incomes. Repeated reviews, a Cabinet sub-committee, the appointment of nodal officers and proposals for a war room and helpline might help monitor the situation, but do not constitute a financial relief framework.

The gap is particularly serious for farmers. Those who have lost crops and those being asked to skip Yasangi (Rabi) cultivation need assured support. The government has not specified compensation, eligibility, funding or payment timelines. Seeking a Rs 30,000-crore package from the Centre cannot substitute for a firm commitment from the State to those bearing the immediate cost of the crisis.

The comparison is not about treating Covid and El Nino as identical emergencies. It is about how governments share the burden. The K Chandrashekhar Rao government translated its pandemic response into a defined financial measure covering the political and administrative establishments. The Revanth Reddy government invoked the pandemic to seek public cooperation, but has not matched that appeal with comparable sacrifices or assured financial support.

Asking farmers to defer cultivation may be part of a water-management strategy. But without guaranteed income support, the economic consequences fall largely on the farming community. Whether the Congress government is prepared to make its own financial contribution and protect those being asked to sacrifice a crop remains unanswered.