Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday directed officials to ensure the distribution of electronic pattadar passbooks and cheques for Rs 4,000 per acre sop to over 58 lakh farmers across the state within a week from May 10.
He asked officials to extend the sop to all farmers of the assigned lands, RoFR pattadars, non-tribals cultivating land in the agency areas and all other pattadars. The Chief Minister suggested that the ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other local body representatives should be made stakeholders in the distribution programme.
Mr Rao held a meeting at Pragati Bhavan with ministers, district collectors and senior officials to review the arrangements for distribution. “We have taken up a responsibility which no government in the country, or for that matter, in the world has ever undertaken. Nobody till date has ever made any attempt to survey all the lands, issue new passbooks and provide financial assistance as an investment support. Hence, we have no previous experience. We have formulated these schemes on our own. Therefore, we will be implementing the programme with a lot of caution and care. We have to prepare the action plan with vision,” Mr KCR noted.
“We have to distribute 58 lakh passbooks and cheques. We have made arrangements for the farmers to get cash for their cheques from the banks, the moment they present them in the banks. We have set aside '12,000 crores in the budget for this scheme. We have arranged '6,000 crore for the first phase of financial assistance to be distributed for the monsoon crops. This money is kept in the banks. The banks should pay cash to the farmers once the farmer presents the cheque in the bank, or else action will be taken against the erring banks. Farmers should have cash on hand before the onset of the monsoon. This is the reason why we are launching the programme in May,” KCR explained.
“In case a farmer is not able to collect the passbook and cheque in the gram sabha during the prescribed dates, arrangements for issuing them at the Tahsildar's office later will be made. In case the financial assistance given to a farmer is more than Rs 50,000, then two cheques for values lesser than Rs 50,000 each will be issued. Those receiving the passbooks and cheques are expected to collect receipts. Grievance cells will be formed to listen to those who may have any problems. Programmes will be organised in village schools and arrangements for police bandobast will be done. Collectors should have meetings with the bankers to ensure that cash is given only once the cheques are presented. Bankers have also been informed in no uncertain terms that action will be taken against them if they fail to pay cash for the cheques. Some farmers claim to not need financial assistance and the amounts allotted to them can be deposited in the account of the farmers coordination committees,” Mr Rao said.
