The total funds disbursed under Rythu Bandhu, Telangana government’s direct benefit transfer scheme for farmers, will soon touch Rs 50,000 crore in the coming days.

What is Rythu Bandhu?

• Rythu Bandhu is a scheme under which the state government extends financial support to land-owning farmers at the beginning of the crop season through direct benefit transfer.
• The scheme aims to take care of the initial investment needs and do not fall into a debt trap.
• This in turn instills confidence in farmers, enhances productivity and income, and breaks the cycle of rural indebtedness.

DBT under the Scheme

• Each farmer gets Rs 5,000 per acre per crop season without any ceiling on the number of acres held.
• So, a farmer who owns two acres of land would receive Rs 20,000 a year, whereas a farmer who owns 10 acres would receive Rs 1 lakh a year from the government.
• The grant helps them cover the expenses on input requirements such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and labour.

How much does it cost the state exchequer?

• Since the Kharif season of 2018, the state government has been crediting Rythu Bandhu assistance to farmers.
• As of date, it has credited Rs 43,036.64 crore into the bank accounts of beneficiaries.
• This season, the state government will disburse another Rs 7638.99 crore, taking the total sum disbursed so far to over Rs 50,000 crore.

Comparing with the PM-KISAN scheme

• The state government has often said that the Centre’s PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) scheme is a “copy” of Rythu Bandhu.
• Under PM-KISAN, a land-holding family receives an income support of 6,000 per year in three equal installments.
• Rythu Bandhu is based on anticipated input expenditure for each acre of land and there is no restriction on the number of acres owned by a farmer.
• PM-KISAN only provides support to the family and not to the farm units.

Criticisms of the Rythu Bandhu Scheme

• The scheme does not cover the landless or tenant farmers.
• Farmer bodies have been demanding that the state government should extend the agriculture assistance to tenant farmers as well.
• They have pointed out that those who work on lands taken on lease from landowners also need government assistance at the beginning of a crop season.
• It is difficult to bring tenant farmers under the ambit of the scheme because of the informal nature of the agreements they enter into.

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