Hyderabad: Tenant farmers from nine mandals submitted a representation to the Vikarabad Collector, Deepak Tiwari, on Friday, July 17, demanding immediate recognition from the government so that they can be eligible for subsidies and schemes.
The collector assured the tenant farmers that he would write a letter to the state government on the matter and request the Agriculture Department to take a policy decision.
Later, a round table meeting was conducted at the Vikarabad Club Function Hall, which was attended by tenant farmers from Basheerabad, Tandur, Kodangal, Mominapet, Marpalli, Pudur, Peddemul, Vikarabad and Yalal.
Speaking on the occasion, Rythu Swarajya Vedika state leaders Vissa Kiran and Kondal Reddy said that tenant farmers, who constitute more than 36 per cent of the farmers in Telangana, play a key role in crop production, but are denied many of the facilities available to farmers.
Due to a lack of recognition from the government, tenant farmers are not getting subsidised fertilisers, crop loans, crop damage compensation, farmer insurance, or the opportunity to sell their crops to government agencies. This has also led to a rise in farmer suicides, the leaders said.
Therefore, a “Telangana Tenant Farmers Recognition Sadhana Committee” was formed to survey the condition of tenant farmers. Kondal Reddy said that 1816 tenant farmers from 22 districts were interviewed as part of the survey.
Tenant farmers demanded that identity cards be given to cultivators every year as per the Land Authorised Cultivators Act brought by the then Congress government in 2011, and that government schemes be provided to all the recognised tenant cultivators.
The sarpanch of Jivangi village, Basheerabad mandal, said that they had received crop loans and government schemes due to the cards they had received in the past.
He said that the system of sending OTP to the landowner in phone apps for each scheme was causing a lot of trouble to the tenant farmers, and demanded recognition at the beginning of the season so that they can benefit from all the schemes.
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