TS allots Rs. 7.95cr to pay ex-gratia to 133 families of deceased farmers
In 2019, the government had issued a similar order (GO 240) sanctioning Rs. 14.58 crore to pay ex-gratia to 243 families of farmers who had died by suicide in the state.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 25 Dec 2021 2:39 PM GMT
Hyderabad: The Telangana government on 24 December sanctioned Rs. 7.95 crore towards payment of ex-gratia of Rs. 6 lakh each to 133 families of farmers who died by suicide.
According to the order, the amount will be used to cover social security and welfare, debt relief or waiver of agricultural loans, state sector schemes, debt relief to farmer suicide cases, and grants in aid.
Among the 17 districts identified for compensation, Vikarabad (27) has the highest number of reimbursement cases with compensation of Rs. 1.58 crore followed by Yadadri Bhuvanagari (23) with compensation of Rs. 1.29 crore, and Nalgonda (17) with compensation of Rs. 1.02 crore.
Sreeharsha Thanneru, a volunteer with Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) said, "This has been long pending. This is the result of the collective efforts by civil societies and women farmers who travelled all the way to Hyderabad on 17 December to raise their concerns at the RSV event. This is definitely a positive step to help the 133 families."
However, he also raised another significant concern that he urged the government to take note of. "After the implementation of Rythu Bima Insurance Scheme in August 2018, GO 194 was not followed at all. The identification of genuine farmer families has not been properly conducted post-August 2018. The Rythu Bima scheme requires farmers to own the land but GO 194 didn't require them to. As a result, many landless farmers are not eligible for compensation under the Rythu Bhima scheme. Also, most of the 133 families being compensated now are the ones identified before 2018," added Sreeharsha.
He said some of the 133 families have been already compensated by the district collector in which case the amount will be reimbursed to the district administration.
In 2019, the government had issued a similar order (GO 240) sanctioning Rs. 14.58 crore to pay ex-gratia to 243 families of farmers who had died by suicide in the state. "This GO was released after RSV filed a case in the High Court for Nalgonda district. The Nalgonda families received the amount but many other districts haven't yet received it from the state," said Sreeharsha. Besides Nalgonda, farmers from 23 other districts in the state were also eligible for the compensation as per the GO.
