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Telangana farmers to get financial aid under ‘Rythu Bandhu’ from today. All you need to know
According to the chief minister’s office (CMO), the amount will be credited towards 1.52 crore acres of cultivated land at the rate of Rs.5,000 per acre for upcoming cropping season.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday announced that all farmers in the state will receive financial assistance under the ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme from December 28. A day after a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan, Rao said more than ₹7,500 crore would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of around 6.14 million farmers. The financial aid will be given to the farmers from December 28 to January 7.
According to the chief minister’s office (CMO), the amount will be credited towards 15.2 million acres of cultivated land at the rate of ₹5,000 per acre for upcoming cropping season. Rao instructed the concerned officials to ensure that each and every farmer in the state receives the benefit of the scheme, the release said.
“He (Rao) said the assistance should begin with farmers who have less holding of lands and to the farmers having a large extent of holding and all farmers should get the assistance in 10 days,” the statement read.
During the review meeting, the officials had also apprised the chief minister of the heavy losses incurred by the government to the tune of ₹7,500 crore due to the purchase of paddy, sorghum, maize, redgram, Bengal gram and sunflower. The officials said that though the government purchased at the Minimum Support Price (MSP), it had to sell them at the lower prices in the market, as there was no demand for these crops.
What is ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme?
The state-run scheme, formally known as the Agriculture Investment Support Scheme, is aimed at incentivising lakhs of farmers every crop-sowing season to support farm investment. The government provides financial assistance for the purchase of inputs like seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, labour and other investments in the field.
Under the scheme, every farmer in Telangana is supposed to receive ₹5000 per acre for two seasons - Rabi and Kharif - which amounts to ₹10,000 every year for an acre of cultivated land. The direct money transfer in farmers’ bank account allows them to withdraw the amount from the post offices near them, instead of travelling to the towns and cities. According to the government website, the farmers can withdraw the amount through the micro ATMs available through thousands of post offices in rural areas of Telangana.
