Hyderabad: In what is being dubbed as chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s version of Rythu Bandhu or PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), the Andhra Pradesh government has introduced a cash transfer scheme of Rs 10,000 for farmers in the state under the ‘Annadaata Sukhibhava’ programme.
Coming close on heels to the scheme introduced by the Union government in its interim budget, which provides a minimum income support of Rs 6,000 to small and marginal farmers who own less than 5 acres of land, the Andhra government will pay an additional Rs 4,000 to ryots belonging to the same category, taking up the total to Rs 10,000.
Apart from this, farmers who own land above five acres will separately receive Rs 5,000 for Rabi and Kharif crop seasons.
Speaking to News18, agriculture minister Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy said, “About 54 lakh farmers will benefit from the Central government scheme. However, with our provisions another 15 lakh farmers can get these cash transfers.”
The minister said the estimated budget for these cash transfer schemes is about Rs 5,000, adding that despite facing a financial crunch, the government will allot a heavy budget for the farmers.
The total budget comes up to be about Rs 13,000 crore once the farm loan waiver is added.
With an eye on the Lok Sabha elections due by May, political parties across the spectrum seem to be flashing investment support schemes in the form of cash transfers to woo farmers.
With the Telangana government’s flagship programme Rythu Bandhu, which kicked off last year, being touted as a significant move by economists across the nation, other states have followed suit. Such financial support schemes are clearly in vogue, as the Centre, too, proposed for one under the PM-KISAN in its interim budget.
However, agriculture experts believe that such schemes yield temporary results. “Such schemes should be the last resort. The focus of the government should be at broader issues like access to credit facility and food prices. The government cannot float such schemes ahead of elections and ignore other major issues,” GV Ramanajaneyulu, an agricultural scientist, told News18.
He added that such schemes do not address the concerns of tenant farmers, who are the worst sufferers of the looming agrarian crisis. “With no legal registration, tenant farmers are not eligible to avail any benefit from such schemes.”
Telangana govt’s Rythu Bandhu has also faced similar criticism from farmers’ activists, who said the scheme has not been targeted well and does not actually reach the struggling tenant farmers, and is beneficial only to land owners.
However, Naidu’s government said they are considering to deploy a mechanism that ensures the inclusion of tenant farmers under the category of beneficiaries. According to sources, a sub-committee has been formed to estimate the tenant farmers count.
“There is no point if we do not address the actual farmer in distress. Which is why we’ve decided to chalk out a mechanism to see how tenant farmers can also have such benefits,” former Telugu Desam Party MP K. Rammohan Rao told News18.
Comments
0 comment