Khammam: The details of farmers are being collected by farm officials for the Rythu Bheema scheme at a snail’s pace. Officials have been able to collect the details of only 17,291 farmers so far against three lakh.
Farmers between 18 to 60 years will be benefited by the scheme and the details of the farmers should be sent to the Life Insurance Corporation, which is the project implementing agency.
The farm officials should send the details online. The government has decided to give a tablet to each agricultural extension officer to speed up the work.
These tabs will be given to them in a day or two. There is a special App in the tab and the AEOs can collect the details of farmers by using it. Apart from this, a manual form was also given to the AEOs for them to fill and submit to the office. The LIC will collect a premium of Rs 2,270 for each farmer from the state government.
Rythu Bheema and Rythu Bandu are extensions of each other. If a farmer is eligible to get benefits under Rythu Bandu, he wil naturally get a Rythu Bheema policy if he or she is below 60 years. The farmer's family will be paid Rs. 5 lakh in case of his death. About 119 agricultural extension officers are involved in the collection of details. The details of 2115 farmers were collected in Kallur mandal followed by 1915 in Tallada mandal. The work is very slow in Vemsoor, Khammam Urban, Khammam Rural, Konigerla, Karepalli, Kamepalli, Kusumanchi and Tirumalayapalem. The government has decided to implement the scheme from August 15, 2018 and there are doubts on completion of the process by the end date. An official said “Each AEO is able to collect the information of ten to twenty farmers in a day. Many farmers are giving information in a slow manner”. (eom)
