Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy will release funds for Rythu Bharosa starting June 30 during a farmer’s meet in Madhira, Khammam, a decision that was announced after a Cabinet meeting held on Thursday, June 18.
The Rythu Bharosa scheme is an investment support initiative that aims to provide timely working capital directly to farmers at the beginning of each crop cycle. Farmers receive Rs 12,000 per acre each year, which is split into two equal instalments of Rs 6,000 per acre for both the Kharif (monsoon) and Rabi (winter) seasons.
Only farmers with active, arable farming plots are eligible for payouts and non-cultivable plots like real estate layouts and industrial zones, while fallow lands are excluded.
Additionally, the state government has decided to provide a Rs 500 bonus for seven varieties of fine rice — BPT 5204, RNR 15048, HMT Sona, Jai Sri Ram, KNM 1638, WGL 44 and KM 7715 — during the Kharif season, in view of their market demand and public needs.
Paddy procurement, fertiliser demands
Some ministers said that the state government has procured about 80 lakh metric tonnes of paddy during the Rabi season, describing it as an unprecedented procurement in the country.
However, they expressed concern over the Centre allegedly purchasing a lower quantity of paddy from Telangana compared to other states, and demanded that the Centre purchase the entire quantity of paddy produced in the state.
The meeting decided to procure crops only as per the quota prescribed by the Centre after it announces the minimum support price (MSP).
Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao alleged that the Centre had not been providing fertilisers even as per the quantity allotted by it over the last two years. “Though (Union Minister) JP Nadda himself announced that two lakh metric tonnes would be given per month, they could not send more than one lakh in April, May or June,” he said.
Alleging that the Centre was “ignoring its constitutional responsibility”, he said it had limited its role to announcing the MSP while failing to procure crops from Telangana in full. He asked whether it was discrimination against the state or a deliberate attempt to defame it.
The state government would demand that the Centre purchase paddy through the Food Corporation of India (FCI), cotton through the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) and other crops through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), he said.
He said the MoU for the construction of the Ramagundam fertiliser plant in Telangana stipulates that the highest share should be given to the state, but the Centre was troubling farmers by “unilaterally” not supplying adequate quantities.
“If necessary, the state government would take up an agitation to mount pressure on the Centre if we do not get an adequate quantity of fertiliser from the plant even after urging and demanding it,” Rao said.
Hyderabad Metro and VB-G RAM G
The Telangana Cabinet also asked the central government to grant the necessary permissions for the expansion of Hyderabad Metro and requested that the loan due from the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) be sanctioned immediately.
The Cabinet has also formed a sub-committee, including ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy, Tummala Nageswara Rao, Dansari Anasuya and Vivek Venkataswamy, to comprehensively examine the impact of Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G).
(With inputs from PTI)
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