Hyderabad: The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Rythu Bharosa Scheme has proposed extending financial assistance of Rs 15,000 per acre annually to only those farmers whose agricultural lands are under active cultivation.
The committee also recommended leveraging remote sensing data to accurately identify such farm lands. The committee has proposed rolling out the revamped Rythu Bharosa scheme on January 14 as a Sankranti gift for Telangana farmers.
The committee has recommended that the government should seek applications from farmers to avail Rythu Bharosa, by holding gram sabhas from January 5 to 7 across the state and eligibility should be determined through verification.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will present the sub-committee's report to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday. The report will be reviewed at the State Cabinet meeting scheduled for Saturday, where final decisions on eligibility criteria and guidelines will be taken.
The committee has proposed significant changes to Rythu Bharosa implementation, departing from the previous Rythu Bandhu model during the BRS regime that covered all agricultural landowners irrespective of whether those lands were under cultivation or not.
The recommendations are aimed at addressing inefficiencies observed in the previous Rythu Bandhu scheme of extending Rs 10,000 per acre per year. From 2018 to 2024, the BRS regime disbursed Rs 80,453 crore Rythu Bandhu, of which Rs 25,672 crore was found to be extended to lands not under cultivation, including real estate ventures, industrial zones, roads, highways, and barren areas.
However, no consensus was reached on imposing restrictions such as disqualifying income tax payers, government employees, or legislators, and advocated benefits only for actively cultivated lands.
The committee recommended utilising advanced technology to differentiate between cultivated and uncultivated lands, ensuring benefits reach deserving farmers.
However, there was division within the committee on restrictions. Some members supported adopting norms similar to the PM-Kisan scheme, which includes limiting benefits to holdings of up to 5 acres, excluding certain categories like I-T payers and government employees.
Few members suggested capping Rythu Bharosa at 10 acres and said it should be extended to all landowners irrespective of the extent of land they own. They said even if a person owns 50 acres or more, he should get Rythu Bharosa for 10 acres but he should not be excluded from the benefit just because he owned 50 acres or more.
The new proposal seeks to streamline support by focusing only on the 1.30 crore acres of cultivated agricultural land, as opposed to the 1.53 crore acres of registered agricultural land listed on the Dharani portal.
