Workload concerns of ground level staff likely to impact Rythu Bharosha

The government is all set for launching the programme in less than a fortnight.

Hyderabad: Success of the Rythu Bharosa, the modified version of KCR’s Rythu Bandhu, hinges mainly on effective crop enumeration, but the current challenges seem to be serious enough in the absence of adequate staffing support.

The government is all set for launching the programme in less than a fortnight. But the Agriculture Department is worried by the valid workload concerns being voiced by the ground-level staff. In the absence of their support, it is going to be a complex task.

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Agriculture Extension Officers (AEOs) and other staff members have been expressing their inability to shoulder the task of crop enumeration, citing insufficient staffing and excessive workload. This is a recurring exercise and it necessitates multiple visits to every landholding, including the remotest parts of villages and hamlets.

The non-cooperation of a section of AEOs in conducting the Digital Crop Survey, a Central Government initiative under the Digital Agri Mission a few months ago, led to serious disruptions. Each AEO was tasked with a survey of about 5,000 acres within their operational jurisdiction. With over 2,600 AEOs on the rolls, the department could list crops on over 1.30 crore acres.

The average size of land holdings per farmer in Telangana is 1.12 hectares (2.77 acres), and the state has 55.54 lakh operational holdings, covering an area of 61.97 lakh hectares (153.16 lakh acres). Unions representing field-level agriculture staff have insisted on engaging private agencies for conducting the digital crop survey, which of course did not happen.

The AEOs in various districts refusing to participate in the digital survey led to the suspension of 156 officers, triggering widespread protests. The enumeration of crops raised by every farmer is considered an even more arduous task, requiring multiple visits to farmlands. While 90% of the state’s agricultural area is covered mainly by paddy, cotton, and chili crops, certain pockets cultivate maize, sorghum, ragi, pulses, legumes, fruits, vegetables, and groundnut.

A majority of field staff have relocated their families to nearby urban centers for better educational opportunities and easier mobility to mandal headquarters. Besides this, the traditional pahanis, which recorded crops raised by the farmers in each season, have seen a sea change, with many columns removed for functionality.

The dismantling of the Village Revenue Officer (VRO) system has further complicated the crop enumeration process. In response to these challenges, the government is planning to revive a similar system by appointing village-level officers for over 11,000 villages. This move is expected to alleviate some of the burdens on the agriculture department and facilitate the enumeration task.