As election rhetoric has begun to rise in Telangana in the runup to the Assembly polls, the repeated statements of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, batting for landowning farmers have upset activists who support tenant farmers. KCR has repeatedly made it clear that his party, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), would stand by farmers but has refused to include tenant farmers, who account for about 30% of farmers in the state. The Chief Minister has outrightly refused the long-standing demand to identify and formulate welfare policies for tenant farmers.
During election rallies in Jangaon, Bhuvanagiri and Sircilla, KCR strongly criticised the Congress party's tenant farmer policy. He claimed that the Congress party was trying to reintroduce the tenant farmer system and remove the Dharani land registration system, which empowered farmers (mainly landowners) by giving them more control over their land. Activists alleged that KCR has resorted to fear-mongering by emphasising granting farmers (landowners) absolute rights to their land.
During his speech at Jangaon on October 16, KCR said, “The Congress says they will identify tenant farmers. Who will enumerate them? Identifying (tenants) will lead to disputes and courtroom battles from those who seek to infringe upon farmers' (landowners) rights.” He added, "I've always believed farmers should have absolute rights to their lands…Dharani is making land registration more accessible and transparent. Only the owner's thumb impression can authorise any changes, eliminating the influence of officials like the Tahsildar or Collector.” He likened tenant farming to renting a house and challenged the concept, questioning why it was not applied to urban areas like Banjara Hills, where vast properties are leased out.
Notably, KCR introduced the Rythu Bandhu scheme ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections. Currently, the program offers yearly investment assistance of Rs 10,000 to land-owning farmers (distributed as Rs 5,000 each for kharif and rabi seasons). However, it does not account for tenant farmers. Activists allege that the Rythu Bandhu scheme is for lands registered as agricultural lands irrespective of whether cultivated or not, as no survey takes place.
KCR announced that the Rythu Bandhu scheme would be enhanced to Rs 16,000 per acre annually (immediate increase to Rs 11,000 and increment by Rs 1,000 annually until it reaches Rs 16,000).
The Congress, in its manifesto, had promised to provide annual support of Rs 15,000 to land-owning farmers and tenant farmers, along with Rs 12,000 for agricultural labourers under the Rythu Bharosa guarantee scheme. Additionally, the guarantee encompasses a Rs 500 bonus for paddy crops.
According to Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV), one in every three farmers in Telangana is a tenant. Almost 95% of these tenant farmers lack loan eligibility cards (LECs), which makes them dependent on private money lenders and creates unhealthy debt cycles. Only about 26% of landowners actively cultivate their land; a large majority (55%) choose to lease their land rather than pursue agrarian careers. Activists allege that the KCR government has been providing Rythu Bandhu to landowners without identifying actual cultivators, and no attention is paid to providing subsidies on seeds or loan waivers.
Ravi Kanneganti, an activist at RSV, said, “The government has a flawed perception of farmers. Agriculture does not mean crops. It is a whole ecosystem – including farmers (agricultural labourers, tenants), their families, soil, infrastructure, subsidies etc…If actual cultivators are not identified, the plan is ineffective. Seed subsidies and loan crop waivers are not being given to farmers (including tenants).” According to Ravi, Rythu Bandhu emerged as an all-in-one scheme.
Narayana (40), a tenant farmer from Vikarabad district, told TNM that he was hoping the scheme would be extended to tenant farmers also. “I lease the land for Rs 10,000 per acre and also employ agriculture labourers to help in the farm. The investment is a loan I borrowed from a local businessman. When there used to be a Loan Eligibility Card (LEC), I at least used to approach banks for loans. The government has stated again that we won't be regarded as farmers. We are now used to hard work with marginal profits.”
Farmers who cultivate crops on someone else's land can apply for loans and other benefits with or without the landowner's consent under the Andhra Pradesh Land Licenced Cultivators Act of 2011. The rights of the landowners are also protected by this law. Additionally, it assists these tenant farmers in obtaining loans from public banks and other benefits such as crop insurance, subsidies for farming supplies, and compensation if their crops are harmed.
Ashalatha, an activist at Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch (MAKAM), said “The government argues that tenant farming is a dynamic practice, making it challenging to identify the tenant farmers accurately. However, there is an existing system of revenue officials in place, yet the government appears disinterested in addressing these issues. This further emphasises that the BRS party primarily represents landowners. This positioning may work in their favour during elections, as it aligns with the economically and socially influential sections of society.”
Elaborating on the issue faced by female tenant farmers, Ashalatha said, “In some distressing cases, widows of the farmers who died by suicide (mostly young men between 35 to 45 years) grapple with the burden of debt. They face a lot of difficulties including clearing the past loans, caring for their families, and continuing their tenancy without government support, which is beyond imagination.”
Ashalatha claims that caste is another factor dividing tenant farmers, which has caused disagreements within the group and prevented them from presenting a united front and demanding action from the government. She does, however, express optimism that tenant farmers are becoming more conscious of the issue and that politicians are beginning to acknowledge it.
Sreeharsha T who cordinates Kisan Mitra a farmer helpline, said, “If the government is worried about the legal disputes that arise over land rights and unable to tackle the risk, at least a guaranteed MSP must be announced (including private buyers). Instead of requiring the Revenue Department to be heavily involved, the Agricultural Department, which is in charge of crop booking and identifying areas and cultivated crops, can be assigned the responsibility of identifying the cultivators and crops. Cultivators can be identified with this method, giving them access to advantages like loans, crop loss insurance, and the opportunity to sell their produce at MSP.”
Currently, the lack of passbooks presents challenges for tenant farmers as they will only be able to access these centres using the landowner's passbook, which isn't always possible. As a result, many choose to sell their produce to individual consumers, frequently for less than the MSP.
Sreeharsha said, “Congress must also aggressively campaign their intentions regarding tenant farmer identification. Congress is in a better position because there are at least 30% tenant farmers in the state. How actively they campaign on this issue will largely determine the electoral opinion.”
“We reached out to the members of the BRS party to recognise tenancy and include a crop insurance policy. However, we see that the party has made its stand clear. We hope that this makes a difference. Through our fieldwork, we understand that tenant farmers feel that undue benefits are going to landowners. However, we will continue to speak out about the distressing conditions of the tenants,” Vissa Kiran from RSV said.
Ravi said it would be interesting to see if this impacts election results and said, “We estimate there are 22 lakh tenant farmer households. It is a lot. Sadly, tenant farmers are not just farmers. They belong to some community with local political affiliations.”
Chairman of Kisan Congress farmers and former MLA Konda Reddy told TNM that Rythu Bandhu has benefitted the landlords who were already prosperous and settled in the cities. “In the future, there will be fewer farmers doing agriculture. Only tenants will be the actual cultivators. Recognising this, the Licensed Cultivators Act was introduced by Congress in 2011, but the KCR government is not implementing it. KCR won with a majority because he introduced the Rythu Bandhu scheme a few months before the 2018 elections and hopes to repeat it. Congress will support tenant farmers and prepare clauses if needed to the existing act to protect the rights of landowners too.”