Hyderabad: The Telangana government has given good news to the state's farmers. The state government will start crediting money to farmers' bank accounts from today, under Rythu Bandhu Scheme.
Farmers in Telangana would receive Rs 5,000 per acre from the state government. State Finance Ministry officials have finalised arrangements to release Rs 7,500 crore in funds.
According to official sources, the finance department has been given instructions to prepare the funds for Rythu Bandu by December 15. This is a primary priority for Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao at a time when the state has been embroiled in a political brawl over farmers' grievances and paddy procurement since the first week of November.
Earlier About 60.84 lakh farmers was benefited under the Rythu Bandhu scheme for the monsoon season. The government has released about Rs 7,360.41 crore. Distributed funds to about 1.47 crore acres.
Telangana government has decided to provide Rythu Bandhu to some more eligible farmers. On the other hand, there is continuing ambiguity on the issue of paddy procurement in the state. While the central and state governments criticise each other, the farmers are waiting to resolve the issue.
The scheme was announced by CM K. Chandrashekar Rao on 25 February 2018. An allocation of Rs 12,000 crores was made in the 2018-19 state budget. It was launched on 10 May 2018 in Karimnagar.The scheme offers a financial help of Rs 10,000 per year to each farmer (two crops).
There is no cap on the number of acres, and most farmers are small and marginal. Around 55% of the population in Telangana make a living from agriculture.
(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)