The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi announced in the interim budget of the Union government will cover a significant number of farmers drawing benefit under the Telangana government’s Rythu Bandhu scheme.
While the Centre’s scheme will give ₹6,000 to a farmer’s family (husband, wife and two children below 18 years) with a land holding up to five acres, State’s scheme extends ₹10,000 for an acre annually. Where the Centre’s scheme scores over the State’s scheme is in the case of farmers with half acre land as they will get ₹6,000 towards investment support. However, under the Rythu Bandhu, such farmers will get ₹5,000 per year.
The Revenue department in the State has to certify the size of land holding of the farmers. Department sources said that out of 53.54 lakh updated Pattadar passbooks, 48 lakh farmers own five or less than five acres of land in the State.
List of farmers
The list of 48 lakh farmers will be sent to the Agriculture Department and it will further classify who among the 48 lakh farmers will be eligible for the Centre’s Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme as per guidelines issued by the Centre.
Official sources also allayed fears that delay in issuance of updated new Pattadar passbooks after correction of errors would not hamper eligible farmers from availing the Central assistance. Because the Centre will go by the data uploaded and certified by the State.
The Centre’s assistance to farmers will be directly credited to the eligible farmers’ bank accounts. But the amount will be transferred by the Centre to the State’s bulk account first and the State, in turn, will transfer the amount to the individual accounts of farmers. State would not be able to divert the amount meant for farmers towards any other expenditure, they clarified.
However higher officials said that there were no clear guidelines as yet whether the Centre would directly transfer the amount to the eligible farmers’ accounts or it would transfer the amount to the consolidated fund of the State. “The situation is still fluid,” they added.
Meanwhile, Revenue department sources said that they have uploaded the updated land holdings data of 53.54 lakh farmers while the target is 57 lakh agricultural land accounts. The State government has not yet decided whether it will offset the amount equal to the amount sanctioned by the Centre under Rythu Bandhu . “It is a policy decision that has to be taken by the highest authority. If the State decides to do so then it will save at least ₹2,500 crore,” they said. Otherwise, the Centre’s assistance will become top up benefit to those farmers eligible under Centre’s Kisan Samman Nidhi.
