Farmers’ groups, NGOs discuss issues of Rythu Bandhu Scheme

Hyderabad: To discuss the inevitable issues of Rythu Bandhu scheme, various groups supporting farmers and NGOs collated together at press club on Tuesday.

The government has been advent about limiting the scheme to land owners with patta documents.

The fact that some of the benefactors are non-cultivators while exclusion of actual cultivators like tenant farmers and adivasi podu farmers from Rythu Bandhu support scheme by the State government has been a matter of debate.

Erstwhile Chief Minister has made detailed statements in a review meeting of senior officials as well as in public meetings.

Considering the magnitude of this 12,000 crore programme and the statements made by the CM certain amendments has to be considered. At the outset the continued remarks by the CM that “tenant farmers are not farmers and they have no rights or entitlement for government support” the statement is generating much anger among the small and marginal farmers.

Tenant farmers feel insulted as they are the true cultivators and are not being recognized for doing their duty in the eyes of the state. While the non-cultivating land owners are getting investment support.

According to ‘Telangana Social Development Report’ there are 11 lakh tenant fathers in the state with the number increasing.

Apart from this there are lakhs of unrecognized cultivators such as adivasi farmers, sada bainama farmers, temple and wakf land cultivators.