Hyderabad: Tenant farmers urge State for identity cards, Rythu Bharosa benefits

Hyderabad: Tenant farmers across districts met in Hyderabad on Friday and raised their voices for the implementation of State aid such as identity cards, Rythu Bharosa and other schemes for them.

The tenant farmers and associations who participated in the public address at the Praja Bhavan gave petitions and demanded that the Congress party recognise the tenant farmers and keep the promise of Rythu Bharosa and other government schemes to them.

Tenant farmers spoke to the media outside Praja Bhavan after participating in the public hearing. They said that they want immediate implementation of the guarantees given by the government to the tenant farmers and they are also submitting their petitions to the cabinet sub-committee of four ministers set up by the government on farmer assurance guidelines.

Congress said would take demands to the Cabinet sub-committee

The farmers and their representatives submitted their requests to Telangana State Planning Board vice chairman G Chinna Reddy and other officials present.

Chinna Reddy said that the government will take the farmers’ opinions seriously and make a decision on the matter. He said that the government is committed to doing justice to the tenant farmers and will take the demands of the farmers to the attention of the chief minister and the Cabinet sub-committee.

Tenant farmers’ roundtable

Rythu Swarajya Vedika organised a roundtable at Sundarayya Vigyan Kendra Shoaib Hall on the ‘Identity of tenant farmers in Telangana and Rythu Bharosa’ from 2 pm. Tenant farmers from Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Vikarabad, Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Adilabad and Mancherial districts participated in the roundtable and voiced their problems and demands.

Tenant farmers from different districts who spoke at the meeting were Jakka Malkanna, Ashok from Adilabad district, Chaitanya from Yadadri district, Manjula from Vikarabad district, Yadamma from Nalgonda district, Mulhu Srinivas from Karimnagar, Sidam Ramesh from Mancherial.

The tenant farmer said that not only did he lose his crop cost but is also paying the rental rate from Rs 10,000 per acre for land without water to Rs 25,000 per acre for irrigated land.

From the previous government, the tenant farmers did not get any benefit from any schemes, they did not get any recognition, and they did not get farmer’s bonds or farmer’s insurance. They did not get crop damage compensation and they did not get the rate at the time of selling the crop.

Work as a tenant farmer after husband’s death

Manjula from Vikarabad district said that even after her husband died by suicide due to losses as a tenant farmer, she is continuing as a tenant farmer because the previous KCR government did not provide any help.

The tenant farmers were angry because the previous BRS-led government did not provide any help, and now they hope that the Congress government will implement their promises and do justice to the tenant farmers.

The farmers reminded the leaders how CM Revanth Reddy, the then Opposition leader, wrote an open letter to the tenant farmers on September 13, 2023.

They also discussed how in 2011, Congress brought in the Land Authorised Cultivators Act, which promised to re-issue identity cards to tenant farmers and provide farmer assurance and other schemes and crop loans.

Demands from tenant farmers

During the meeting, important demands were made by the leaders of tenant farmers, Rythu Swarajya Vedika, other farmers’ associations and public associations:

1. Immediately implement the Land Authorised Cultivators Act, 2011. Take applications from tenant cultivators and issue LECs to them. Identity cards should also be provided.

2. Since Rythu Bharosa is an investment assistance and tenant farmers are farming with their own investment, Rythu Bharosa assistance should also be extended to tenant farmers. One of the six guarantees must be implemented within the first year.

3. Crop insurance, crop loss compensation, farmer insurance, crop sale, bank loans etc. should be provided to the tenant farmers who get identity cards.

Leaders who participated in the round table are Kanneganti Ravi, Vissa Kiran Kumar, B Kondal, Sangepu Borranna, Chaitanya, Hartha Nagarjuna and Batu from the Rythu Swarajya platform; Kisan Congress presidents Anvesh Reddy, Kisan Congress leaders Nallamala Venkateswara Rao, Dalit Bahujan Front leaders P Shankar, Puli Kalpana, Telangana Raithanga Samiti leaders Jakkula Venkataiah, All India Rythu Coolie Sangham leaders Mandal Venkanna, Pragatisheelamahila Sangham leader V Sandhya, Pashya Padma from Telangana State Rythu Sangham, etc.

President of Congress Kisan Cell Anvesh Reddy and leaders Nallamala Venkateswara Rao said that the new government is determined to do justice to the tenant farmers and will go ahead with clear decisions after collecting opinions on the issues of identity of tenant farmers and provision of farmer assurance.

The Cabinet sub-committee said that there was a plan to take opinions from the farmers and asked the tenant farmers to voice their opinions in large numbers at that time.