Hyderabad: Over 40 lakh farmers in Telangana have encashed cheques worth Rs 5,100 crore in banks in the past 10 days. The cheques were distributed by the state government under the Rythu Bandhu Sheme as part of extending Rs 4,000 per acre financial assistance to farmers for ensuing kharif in June.
The distribution of cheques was started on May 10 and went on till May 17. The rest of the cheques will be distributed in respective mandal revenue offices.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao said he was happy that about the success of Rythu Bandhu Scheme as there was no shortage of cash in banks across the state despite the farmers withdrawing such a huge amount within a week.
The RBI had sent Rs 5,700 crore cash to the banks exclusively for Rythu Bandhu scheme as they were facing severe cash crunch since March. The CM, finance minister Etela Rajender and agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy had requested union finance ministry and RBI officials several times to arrange cash reserves for Rythu Bandhu Scheme.
Over 58 lakh cheques were printed for distribution. Of these, officials have so far distributed cheques to over 44 lakh farmers. The other 14 lakh cheques could not be distributed as beneficiaries were not available in the villages due to various reasons like migration to other states and countries, while in some cases, there were errors on cheques pertaining to names and area of land due to which they were sent for reprinting. There were also Aaddhar linkage issues, which also affected the distribution.
Agriculture secretary C.Parthasarathi said, “Those who could not collect the cheques from distribution centres till May 17, can approach MRO offices with valid documents and claim the cheques. Cheques with errors were cancelled and sent for reprinting. They will reach MRO offices within a week. There is no need for panic.”
The CM has convened a high-level meeting with ministers and senior officials at Pragathi Bhavan on Tuesday to review the implementation of Rythu Bandhu Scheme. The meeting will also formulate modalities for implementation of Rs 5 lakh free insurance scheme for farmers from June 2. Officials from Life Insurance Corporation of India have been called for the meeting.
