HYDERABAD: Following the green signal from the Election Commission, the state government on Monday disbursed Rythu Bandhu amounts worth Rs 2,200 crore for farmers owning five or more acres of land. The government also released Rs 15 crore input subsidy to 15,246 farmers whose crops were damaged in March.
The state government already released Rs 5,700 crore for farmers owning five or less acres who comprise 92% of the eligible beneficiaries. By releasing the Rs 2,200 crore for the remaining 8%, or 4.5 lakh farmers, it completed the disbursal of Rythu Bandhu for Rabi crops.
“The Congress government released the Rythu Bandhu amounts in phases, as was done during the BRS regime,” a source explained. The Congress government’s Rythu Bharosa scheme, which proposes to increase the input subsidy amount from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per acre for two crops, would be implemented from the Kharif season onwards.
Meanwhile, input subsidy to farmers whose agriculture and horticulture crops were damaged due to heavy rains/hailstorms in 10 districts between March 16 and 21 was also released on Monday. As many as 15,246 farmers who lost crops on 15,814.03 acres in Kamareddy, Nizamabad, Rajanna-Sircilla, Siddipet, Medak, Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, Karimnagar and Sangareddy districts, got Rs 15.81 crore.