Rythu Bandhu hits roadblock

​Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has put on hold the implementation of Rythu Bandhu scheme for a while after the Election Commission restrained it from distributing subsidy cheques. On the same day the government launched the second phase of the scheme on October 5, the EC asked the state to stop cheque distribution on the grounds that it will be violative of the provisions of the model code of conduct and instructed it to dispense the benefits through electronic transfer only.

Top officials said that the condition of electronic transfer imposed by the commission has come as a big stumbling block for the implementation of the scheme. As per the schedule, the government is supposed to complete the distribution of cheques by November second week enabling the farming community to get ready for Rabi season which begins in November end.

The major challenge before the state Agriculture department is to compile the data of all the farmers’ bank accounts and verify the same in the local banks before the transferring money.  Earlier, the RBI has permitted all the scheduled banks in Telangana to accept the cheques deposited by farmers and give money directly to them. 

Under electronic transfer, every Rythu Bandhu beneficiary will have to maintain a bank account and the details should be recorded with local Agriculture department officials. It also required the banking regulator's permission before transferring money directly into the accounts of the beneficiaries.

Official sources said that the agriculture department has taken up the drive to gather the details of the bank accounts of the farmers who availed the scheme benefits in the first phase in May this year. More than 50 lakh farmers have received the Rythu Bandhu benefits then.

Reports says that most of the small and marginal farmers are not maintaining the bank accounts. In some cases, farmers’ bank accounts are inactive due to non-maintenance of minimum balance for months. The entire process of streamlining the bank accounts of the beneficiaries has become a Herculean task for the government. Under the present circumstances, officials said that the government is not sure if electronic transfer of money will be completed before the next farming season begins.