The disbursement of investment support at the rate of ₹5,000 per acre under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, which was stopped practically about 10 days back, is expected to resume from Tuesday with the release of about ₹500 crore for the purpose, to begin with, by the Finance Department.
Of the 57.4 lakh farmers identified for the investment support last year with a total land holding of little over 1.4 crore acres, nearly 34 lakh farmers were extended the benefit of about ₹3,500 crore till recently by crediting the amount to their bank accounts.
Officials of the Agriculture Department stated that about ₹3,400 crore more is required to extend the benefit to the remaining farmers.
It is learnt that the officials at the district level were given oral instructions not to process the farmers’ details for crediting the investment support amount into their bank accounts.
Field level enquiries made in Vikarabad, Sangareddy, Narayanpet and Suryapet districts have revealed that most of the farmers who have not been paid the Rythu Bandhu benefit so far were those holding land more than five acres, although some farmers with lesser extent are also yet to get it.
‘Released in tranches’
“We have never stopped the release of amount for the Rythu Bandhu scheme. It is being released in small tranches and it will continue till the benefit reaches all the eligible farmers,” a senior official of the Finance Department told The Hindu , when asked whether the district officials were given instructions not to process the farmers’ details for crediting the benefit into their bank accounts.
The amount is being paid to farmers as and when they are given the release orders, he explained.
However, contrary to the Finance Department official’s claims, a couple of tahsildars, with whom this correspondent spoke, on Monday admitted on the condition of anonymity that they have oral instructions from the higher-ups not to process the farmers’ details for extending the Rythu Bandhu benefit until they were told to do so. They also admitted that some goof-ups had taken place in uploading the land records for online data to enable crediting the benefit and accordingly it is denied to the farmers whose details were entered incorrectly.
True to their admission, the Rythu Bandhu benefit was given to 51.5 lakh and 49.03 lakh farmers in kharif and rabi seasons, respectively, last year at ₹4,000 per acre.
This kharif season, the details of only about 53 lakh farmers were uploaded online for transfer of the benefit till the last week.
