Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) said rural communities should not be remembered only during droughts, floods, crop failures or elections, and called for a development model that provides them security before a crisis strikes.
“Our rural communities do not need to be remembered only when there is a drought, a flood, a crop failure or an election. They deserve a development model that gives them security before the crisis arrives,” Mr. Kharge said.
He was speaking at an event organised by the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Foundation and the Dr. KVP Foundation, where the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) was conferred the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy Award, 2026.
Mr. Kharge said governments must ensure that farmers have fair markets, rural families have decent livelihoods, and women have economic independence, while tribal communities and villages need access to technology, opportunities and basic infrastructure.
“The government has an important role in creating this security, so that the communities become partners in India’s development,” he said.
The Congress president also took a swipe at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Without naming anyone, he said he had heard an RSS leader claim that India had witnessed many reforms. Mr. Kharge said it was the Congress party that had carried out the reforms being referred to. “We have to run after you for the thefts committed,” he alleged, without elaborating.
Linking the award to the legacies of Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy and agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, Mr. Kharge said both believed that development must ultimately serve the dignity of ordinary people.
Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy, he said, had worked for the poor and marginalised, while Dr. Swaminathan had sought to combine scientific advancement with social equity and environmental sustainability.
Impact of climate change
Mr. Kharge also underlined the growing impact of climate change on rural communities, saying uncertain monsoons, floods, droughts, cyclones and changing weather patterns could result not merely in environmental damage but also in crop losses, loss of livelihoods, disruption of children’s education and mounting household debt. “It is not just good science. It is social justice,” he said.
Paying tribute to Swaminathan, Mr. Kharge recalled his contribution to the Green Revolution and recalled how the late scientists had described Indira Gandhi as the “most successful warrior against hunger”.
The Congress chief said Swaminathan’s vision went beyond increasing food production as he advocated an “Evergreen Revolution”, seeking to increase food production without harming the environment and combining science with social equity and the dignity of rural communities.
The MSSRF, established in 1988, had carried forward this approach through its work with rural and tribal communities in areas including farming practices, technology, market access, livelihoods, nutrition, women’s empowerment, biodiversity and climate resilience, Mr. Kharge said.
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who spoke at the event, said the Congress would have to work harder to remove the Narendra Modi government and realise its goal of making Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chair of the MSSRF and daughter of M.S. Swaminathan, could not attend the event in person as she was unable to travel to Delhi following a medical procedure. In a video message, she thanked the organisers for conferring the award on the foundation.
Mr. Revanth Reddy’s deputy Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh were among those present on the dais.
Published – September 02, 2026 09:54 pm IST
