Telangana: No sops to tenant farmers

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday categorically stated that there was no question of giving Rs 8,000 per acre investment subsidy to tenant farmers, when the scheme is launched in May 2018. Speaking in the Assembly, Mr Rao said the government was concerned only about pattadars holding agriculture lands and would extend the financial aid to them. Mr Rao termed the Agriculture Land Tenancy Act as a “dangerous Act” due to which there was a danger of landowners losing their ownership rights. Under this Act, there is no scope for landowners to evict the tenant farmers without their approval.

With this, no landowner enters into an agreement with tenant farmers on paper. Informal agreements are made, fearing that tenants will overstay or permanently occupy the land if there is a formal agreement. During the land reform processes lasting from the 1960s to the 1980s, approximately 50 lakh tenants were given owner-like rights under the “land to the tiller” approach.  Though there are no such instances later, the fear of landowners persists.

Mr Rao said the government would extend financial assistance of pattadars and it was up them and tenant farmers to decide how to utilise the amount and the government would not interfere in the issue. “With the government providing irrigation with new projects, 24x7 free power to agriculture, timely seeds and fertilisers, 95 per cent of pattadars in the state are willing to do agriculture on their own. For this reason, we have decided to give Rs 8,000 to pattadars,” Mr Rao said.