Hyderabad: The state government, till Saturday, transferred Rs 3,246 crore of Rythu Bandhu aid to the accounts of 54.6 lakh farmers for the rabi crop season, covering all farmers owning up to four acres each. Around 15 lakh more farmers, owning over four acres, are to be covered by February 15, officials said.
The state government started the Rythu Bandhu dispersion in phases from December 2023, starting with farmers owning up to an acre and increasing the limit in each phase. There are around 70 lakh farmers eligible to get aid under this scheme.
The previous BRS government started disbursement of Rythu Bandhu aid during the last rabi season from December 28, 2022, and completed in March 2023.
The newly-formed Congress government assumed office on December 7, 2023, and immediately started Rythu Bandhu disbursement, from December 11, 2023.
The Congress government decided to pay salaries to all state government employees across the state on the first of every month, unlike the phased payments during the previous BRS government, due to which employees faced several hardships.
The Congress government paid salaries to staff on January 5, while it started crediting the amounts on the first of February.
The funds were mobilised for payment of salaries to staff in time, due to which there was some delay in disbursement of Rythu Bandhu to farmers, official sources said. Despite this, it is an earlier timescale when compared to the previous BRS government, they said.
