Telangana's flagship farmers' investment support scheme, Rythu Bandhu received a deposit from the State Government valuing ₹586.66 crores on Tuesday.
After Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao gave the necessary instructions, the payment started to be credited to the accounts of all qualified farmers on Tuesday. The amount from the first day was paid to 19.98 lakh farmers who owed one acre or less. The government, which is working very hard to raise money to fulfil its Rythu Bandhu commitments, has raised 3,000 crores through the sale of securities in the morning auction held by the Reserve Bank of India.
The money will be deposited into the government's account today, opening a door for payment to farmers with larger holdings in the coming days. The number of eligible farmers initially remained at 65 lakhs, but it recently grew to 68.1 lakh as a result of the momentum seen in the transactions involving agricultural lands in various areas of the State.
The government made a budgetary provision of ₹14,800 crore for Rythu Bandhu at ₹7,400 crore in two installments, it is expected to incur extra costs due to a rise in the number of accounts. Accordingly, it has been predicted that ₹7,521 crores will be credited into farmers' accounts this season.
Officials from the finance department are still discussing with the union finance ministry in order to secure approval to boost the ₹52,127 crores in open market borrowings that were expected in the budget for the current year. When asked if the government could convince the Centre to raise OMBs in accordance with the projections, a senior official said, "Still awaiting the final confirmation."
Finance Minister T. Harish Rao said the crediting of amounts reflected the Chief Minister’s commitment towards the welfare of farmers and the government would deposit the amounts assured to farmers at the earliest.
He said that despite the financial hurdles the Central Government had put in place, the government remained committed to giving farmers timely investment support.
