Telangana welfare schemes have come under a fresh political challenge, with former state minister and BRS leader T Harish Rao asking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to question the Revanth Reddy government over promises he alleges remain unfulfilled after three Budgets.
In an open letter addressed to Rahul Gandhi, Harish Rao urged him to review the Telangana government’s performance and seek accountability from Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. His intervention came as Rahul Gandhi arrived in Hyderabad to attend the Bharat Summit 2026, being held at the HITEX Exhibition Centre from November 12 to 14.
Harish Rao alleged that the government had repeated welfare announcements without delivering the promised assistance to beneficiaries. He described the government’s approach as “Announce, recycle and never deliver” and said three Budgets had produced “the same promises, recycled announcements and no accountability”.
A key issue raised in the letter was the Indiramma Atmiya Bharosa scheme. Harish Rao said the Congress government had promised an annual payment of Rs 12,000 to landless agricultural labourers in the 2024-25 Budget. He alleged that although the scheme was reiterated in the 2025-26 Budget, the assistance had not reached intended beneficiaries even after three Budgets.
The BRS leader questioned whether repeating a welfare commitment in successive Budget announcements could be treated as implementation. The issue places attention on the gap between a scheme’s Budget allocation or announcement and the administrative steps required to identify beneficiaries, release funds and track delivery. The supplied report does not include a response from the Telangana government to these allegations.
Harish Rao also questioned the handling of Rajiv Yuva Vikasam, a programme intended to support unemployed youth from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Backward Class and minority communities. He said Rs 6,000 crore was announced for the programme in the 2025-26 Budget and that the same amount was repeated in the 2026-27 Budget without clarity on actual fund allocation or implementation.
He asked when the promised financial assistance would reach unemployed young people awaiting government support. His letter framed the issue as a test of whether manifesto commitments were being translated into measurable benefits for poor families, landless labourers and unemployed youth.
The timing of the criticism is significant because Rahul Gandhi’s Hyderabad visit includes a special programme with gig and platform workers. The Telangana government is expected to announce welfare initiatives and launch measures under its platform-based gig workers legislation, which is aimed at providing social security to delivery executives, cab drivers and other workers in the sector.
The Bharat Summit has brought around 1,000 delegates from nearly 70 countries to Hyderabad for discussions on democracy, social and economic justice, climate change, gender equality, international relations and the changing global order. Harish Rao’s letter seeks to place Telangana’s domestic welfare delivery record alongside the broader public-policy discussions taking place during the summit.
The immediate next step is Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled participation in the summit and the programme involving gig and platform workers. Any clarification from the Telangana government on the status of Indiramma Atmiya Bharosa and Rajiv Yuva Vikasam would establish how far the schemes have progressed beyond their Budget announcements.
