In a trend that could be of serious concern, the situation is forcing many farmers to approach private moneylenders.
Published Date – 25 February 2024, 09:45 PM
Hyderabad: The disparity in extension of financial assistance to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu scheme by the State government is leaving many high and dry. In a same village, while many farmers have received the assistance, others are still waiting. And in a trend that could be of serious concern, the situation is forcing many farmers to approach private moneylenders.
In Nagaram, a small village under Dubbak mandal, while many farmers owning two to three acres of lands have received the assistance, while others owning similar extent of land have not got it.
Ramulu Goud and A Chinna Dubba Reddy are cultivating paddy in Nagaram. While Ramulu Goud, who owns two acres got Rs.5000 per acre as Rythu Bandhu, his neighbor A Chinna Dubba Reddy, who owns three acres, is yet to receive money.
The delay in extending the farm input subsidy to the farmers is forcing them many to depend on private moneylenders. “I have to cultivate paddy and cannot wait for long for Rythu Bandhu assistance. It will delay the cropping pattern,” says Chinna Dubba Reddy. Same is the case with A Pedda Dubba Reddy, who owns two acres. “Generally, it should have been deposited by now but this time there is lot of delay. I also fail to understand the disparity in extending the assistance,” says 62-year-old Pedda Dubba Reddy.
Interestingly, Srinivas Reddy, another farmer, who owns four acres in the same village, received the assistance. He is also cultivating oil palm in another two acres. “We got the usual Rs.5,000 per acre assistance just a few days back,” he says. Many farmers in the village say those owning about two acres received Rythu Bandhu and others owning more than three to four acres got delayed deposits.
Siddipet:
In other areas as well in Siddipet, with disbursement of Rythu Bandhu being delayed, many farmers are approaching money lenders or taking seeds, fertilisers and pesticides on credit from traders. Since the Rythu Bandhu was given to only up to farmers having 3 acres in Siddipet district so far, farmers who have more land are struggling to mobilise funds.
Speaking to Telangana Today, Dandu Pushpalatha, who had 4.02 acres of land at Narayanraopet village, has pledged her gold chain to borrow Rs.90,000 from a bank. Since they were not getting enough water from Ranganayaka Sagar in these parts, Pushpalatha said she also undertook the desilting of her open well to meet irrigation needs of Yasangi season by spending Rs.75,000. She had borrowed seeds, pesticides and fertilisers on credit from shops.
Interestingly, Pushpalatha’s husband Shankar, who has 1.04 acres in his name, got his Yasangi Rythu Bandhu assistance.
Khammam:
In Khammam, there were 3,42,803 farmers eligible for Rythu Bandhu and an amount of Rs.370.30 crore was required for them. Bank account details of 3,34,719 farmers were available and Rs.364.14 crore is required to pay them the Rythu Bandhu amount. So far, 2,58,286 farmers with land below three acres, were given Rythu Bandhu support worth Rs.162.48 crore.
In Kothagudem, bank details of 1,78, 541 farmers were updated with a requirement of Rs.269.71 crore. Details of 1,33,936 farmers were sent to the treasury for payment of Rs.121.36 crore. Only 74,170 farmers were paid Rs.40.16 crore so far.
A farmer V Narasimha Rao of Nayakulagudem of Sujatha Nagar mandal, who owns five acres of land but has not received Rythu Bandhu support, said he was staying away from Yasangi cultivation this time.
Mancherial:
Over 46,000 farmers in Mancherial are yet to get the Rythu Bandhu assistance, according to Agriculture officials.
The district has 1,64,069 farmers. Of them, 1,18,020 farmers were given investment support worth Rs.75.57 crore. As many as 46,049 farmers were yet to receive the aid to the tune of Rs 100 crore. Many of these farmers are forced to take loans from private lenders at exorbitant rates of interest. They said they were taking loans for around 2 percent of rate of interest from private chit fund agencies and local traders to buy inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, etc.
Nalgonda:
In Nalgonda, farmers who owned more than three acres of agricultural land, have not received Rythu Bandhu for the Yasangi season, which was started almost one month ago. A farmer J Lingaiah, who owns six acres of land at Kethepally, said he had no other choice but to approach private money lenders to take up cultivation this season.
Another farmer, Deshagoni Rajaiah, who owns eight acres, said he has taken up cultivation of paddy in four acres and cotton in another four acres. He borrowed Rs.1 lakh from a private money lender.
Karimnagar:
In Karimnagar, about 45,000 farmers are still waiting for the Rythu Bandhu assistance. According to officials, Rs.90.25 crore was deposited in bank accounts of 1,54,240 farmers for 2023-24 Yasangi season. A payment of Rs.80 crore for 45,000 farmers is yet to be done. In Rajanna-Sircilla, 1,01,824 farmers got Rs.64.41 crore while Rs.40 crore was yet to be paid to 24,000 farmers.
