Telangana: Rythu Bharosa may turn tricky

Govt to insist on affidavit for tenant farmers

Hyderabad: The State government’s moves to insist on an affidavit in support of the land let out by pattedars to tenant farmers for extending crop investment support to the latter is raising serious concerns.

It is feared that the affidavit-based consideration for benefits under Rythu Bharosa, the Congress-tweaked version of the highly successful Rythu Bandhu, could build a conflict between land owners and tenant farmers. As a consequence of this, the tenants could find themselves at the receiving end. A State-wide exercise is expected to be taken to identify tenant farmers soon. Their number could be anywhere between 17 lakh to 22 lakh in Telangana, as it varies by crop season. It is an acknowledged fact that almost every third farmer is a tenant farmer in the State.

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There is no blueprint finalised yet to categorise who the tenant farmer is and who would merit the crop investment support in the event of extending it to the tenants too. It was already indicated that an affidavit would be mandatory for considering the eligibility of the tenant farmers for the monetary support under the Rythu Bharosa scheme sought to be implemented from the Kharif season this year. If the affidavit is made the sole criterion for extending the benefit to the tenant farmers, they could end up losing not only the benefit but even the land being enjoyed by them on lease. Nearly 90 percent of the land leases are entertained on goodwill, and are unofficial, officials said.

The farmers would not come forward to give any sort of documented official commitment in support of their land that is let out to the tenants. This would give scope for litigation, as it happened in the undivided State before 2014, officials say, pointing out that it may even pave the way for the revival of the cultivator’s column in the ‘pahani’ and revenue records once again.

In view of the growing litigation and conflict situation between the landowners and tenants, the cultivators’ column was done away with during the previous BRS regime. Otherwise, farmers used to opt for plantation of species such as Subabul and Eucalyptus, though they were not environment-friendly, in their lands as they required minimal involvement of labour, instead of giving land on lease to others.

This was the practice of big farmers for a long time in areas such as Madhira and Annapureddipally in Khammam district. They started giving land on lease only after the cultivator columns were removed in the pahanis. If the column is restored, there is enough scope for all lease deals being annulled within no time.

In a move to wean away farmers from the BRS, which nurtured the farming community so well and so long, the Congress leadership had promised enhanced crop investment assistance of Rs.15000 per acre before the Assembly elections. It also promised the benefit to both the landholding farmers as well as tenant farmers.

Though it is a welcome move, the implementation should be based on a full-fledged system that would be enjoying statutory support, felt a retired IAS officer who sought anonymity. Otherwise, he said, it could revive the situation of the 1950s and 60s when landowners were at loggerheads with tenants because of protracted litigations.