Srikakulam: Tenant farmers being deprived of crop loans

Srikakulam: Sanction of crop loans to all eligible tenant farmers remained a dream in the AP State.

As per a report submitted by Prof R Radha Krishna committee, total tenant farmers in the State are 32 lakh. After assuming power, the YSRCP government abolished AP Tenant Farmers (Protection) Act, 2011 and introduced a new Act as AP Crop Cultivators' Rights Act-2019.

As per the new Act, revenue officials need to issue Crop Cultivation Rights Card (CCRC). Based on the CCRC, tenant farmers are eligible to get both bank loans and Rythu Bharosa amount.

But revenue officials are not issuing CCRCs to all eligible tenant farmers as the actual landowners or farmers are opposing it. Actual farmers or landowners fear possible litigation pertaining to their lands if they gave their consent for issuing of CCRCs to tenant farmers.

As a result, the CCRCs have been issued only to 2.4 lakh tenant farmers in the State during the current financial year. Of them, banks sanctioned crop loans only to 48,000 tenant farmers.

Actual farmers or landowners are approaching banks for loans ahead of the tenant farmers by submitting their Pattadar passbooks, title deeds etc. As a result, banks are unable to sanction loans on the same lands again to tenant farmers by considering only CCRCs.

Tenant farmers are unable get even Ryhtu Bharosa aid directly from the government. During last year, only 53,000 tenant farmers had been paid the Rythu Bharosa amount of Rs 9,000.

During his Padayatra, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy assured to protect rights and interests of tenant farmers and also assured to pay Rs 9,000 to them every year. But it is not being implemented properly.

"Tenant farmers require more statutory protections and actually landowners are receiving all benefits from the government and tenant farmers remain as mere cultivators," AP Tenant Farmers Association State general secretary P Jamalayya said.

"Practical difficulties must be resolved in issuing CCRCs to tenant farmers," opined Rythu Swarajya Vedika State co-convener Gadi Balu and Srikakulam district member Beena Dhilli Rao.

"Bankers need only CCRCs to sanction loans to tenant farmers but CCRCs have not been issued as actual landowners are availing loans prior to tenant farmers," Assistant General Manager (AGM) for State-level Bankers Committee (SLBC) K Vijaya Paul told The Hans India.