Telangana completes payment of Rs 7,411 cr for Rythu Bandhu

Hyderabad: The state government on Thursday completed the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu funds for the rabi season, depositing Rs 7,411.52 crore into the bank accounts of 62.99 lakh farmers covering 1.48 crore acres.

Nalgonda district stood at the top with 4.69 lakh farmers getting Rs 601.74 crore while Medchal-Malkajgiri district had the lowest 33,352 farmers getting Rs 33.65 crore. The government had initiated the disbursement process on December 28.

In a media statement, agriculture minister S. Niranjan Reddy thanked Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for releasing funds to Rythu Bandhu in time despite financial constraints.

He demanded that the Centre come up with a national policy for the welfare of farmers.

"Farmers have been facing a lot of problems due to shortage of farm labour. The Centre should link the MNREGA scheme with the agriculture sector for the benefit of farmers. Although the CM made repeated requests to PM in this regard, there has been no response," Reddy said.

The minister urged the Centre to empower state governments to declare minimum support price (MSP) considering the local cultivation and other factors. "The Centre should procure the entire produce at MSP. It should implement the Swaminathan Committee recommendations on MSP", he said. "The Centre is announcing MSP and washing off its responsibilities. This is deplorable."