After crop loan waiver saga, glitches hit Telangana government’s Rythu Bharosa scheme

Farmers get only fraction of the amount they are eligible for; while some receive just Rs 450 instead of Rs 7,650 they are eligible for, others haven't got the assistance despite being listed as eligible beneficiaries

Siddipet: The wait for Rythu Bharosa was long enough. And when the very few farmers, who were lucky enough to be among the first to receive the long-awaited financial assistance for the Yasangi season, started to get the funds, inexplicable glitches are robbing them of their happiness.

Many farmers have got only a fraction of the amount they were eligible for. While some got just Rs 450 instead of the Rs 7,650 they were eligible for, some haven’t got the money credited despite being listed as eligible beneficiaries.

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For instance, in Siddipet, many farmers got less benefit than the land extent they had on their respective names. The farmers are now roaming around revenue offices seeking the release of the remaining amount. However, they did not get answer from the officials, who said they too had no clue how the farmers got less amounts than what they were eligible for.

Mukkera Raju, a native of Ghanpur in Siddipet, had 1 acre 17 guntas of land on his name. Raju is eligible for Rs 8,550 under Rythu Bharosa. However, just Rs 2,550 was credited in his account. Another farmer, Devara Anil Kumar Swamy, a resident of Rampur, had 1 acre 11 guntas of land on his name. He was eligible for Rs 7,650, but his account was credited with just Rs 450.

There are several more such stories not just in Siddipet, but across Telangana with many farmers visiting the banks, revenue offices and agriculture offices every day. However, the officials have no answer.

Another farmer Rondla Rajinikanth Reddy, who had 1 acre 20 guntas of land at Golangonda in Yadadri-Bhongir, did not get Rythu Bharosa at all. Gugulothu Rajitha, a resident of Konapuram in Chennaraopet mandal of Warangal district, got just Rs 4,500 though she was eligible for Rs 10,500. The farmers alleged that the State government had failed to complete the loan waiver and were now again cheating the farmers by denying them whatever they were eligible for under the Rythu Bharosa scheme.

An agriculture officer in Dubbak Assembly segment, on condition of anonymity, said they were receiving numerous such complaints from farmers every day. However, he said there was no mechanism to address such issues with the Agriculture Department. They had never experienced such incidents before, he said.

Another farmer from Nedhanur in Timmapur mandal of Karimnagar district, Kethireddy Amaravardhan Reddy, got Rs 900 though he was eligible for Rs 12,000. In Vikarabad district, Chelka Narsamma got Rs 8,700 though she was eligible for Rs 14,700. The list is endless, just like the struggles of the farmers ever since the Congress came to power.