Farmers in Telangana will get Rs 7,300 crore financial assistance under the state government's Rythu Bandhu scheme from December 27 to January 7. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday directed the officials concerned to ensure that every farmer in the state gets the assistance. The amount, at the rate of Rs 5,000 per acre, will be credited directly into the bank accounts of the farmers.
At a review meeting with officials from the Finance Department, KCR, as the Chief Minister is popularly known, directed them to release Rs 7,300 crore. He said the assistance should begin with farmers who have less holding of lands and all farmers should get the assistance in 10 days. This will be the second installment of investment support to be given to farmers this year. In June, the first installment was credited in the bank accounts of 50.84 lakh landholding farmers.
An allocation of Rs 14,000 crore was made for Rythu Bandhu in 2020-21 budget. Under the scheme, Rs 10,000 investment support is being provided for every acre every year. The government is crediting the amount in two instalments for two crop seasons. It was in 2018 that the government had launched the scheme with the announcement of Rs 8,000 investment support per acre per crop. Last year, the amount was enhanced to Rs 10,000.
The Rythu Bandhu scheme is part of the TRS government's measures to transform the agriculture sector. It is aimed at providing initial investment to the farmer so that he doesn't have to approach private lenders.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister disclosed that the cotton produced in Telangana is of very high quality in the country and it is one of the regions in the world, where high-quality cotton is produced. The cotton staple grown in Telangana is the lengthiest and its hardness is also high in the country. He directed the officials concerned to get a brand image for the high-quality cotton being produced in the state to increase its demand globally.
Directing that a strategy should be prepared to give publicity to the special qualities of the cotton grown in the state, the Telangana CM asked the Agriculture Department to hold a conference with all the experts and specialists. KCR noted that Telangana is the second state that is growing more cotton in the country. Cotton is cultivated in 60 lakh acres in the state.