SRIKAKULAM: The fate of tenant farmers remains unchanged as Crop Cultivators’ Rights Cards (CCRCs) are still not being issued to all eligible individuals. The requirement for written agreements continues to hinder tenant farmers’ access to land, as most landowners are unwilling to execute such agreements.
The CCRC is vital for tenant farmers to access subsidised seeds and manure, avail crop insurance, receive compensation in the event of crop loss due to calamities, and obtain loans from banks through a simplified process. The previous YSRCP government passed the Crop Cultivators’ Rights Act (CCRA) in 2019, which made a written agreement a prerequisite for the issuance of CCRCs.
Due to the lack of written agreements, only a limited number of tenant farmers have received CCRCs. In Srikakulam district, just 223 CCRCs have been issued; in Parvathipuram Manyam, 300; and in Vizianagaram, only 73. “We can issue CCRCs to tenant farmers only after receiving written consent from the landowner, as per the CCR Act 2019,” said Joint Director for Agriculture (JD-A) K. Trinadha Swamy to TNIE. “Most landowners are unwilling to provide such consent, so we are unable to issue CCRCs to all tenant farmers,” he added.
“As per regulations, we can sanction crop loans of ₹35,000 per acre for paddy cultivation from the first week of June each year, based on CCRC eligibility,” Lead Bank District Manager M. Surya Kiran told TNIE. Speaking to the publication, tenant farmers P. Harichchandra and P. Shyam Sundar Rao of Sompeta mandal, and B. Venkata Ramana and B. Chandra Rao of Ponduru mandal, said: “Our landowners are not giving written consent, and we are unable to access government-provided facilities.”
“During the previous YSRCP government, we demanded the repeal of the written agreement clause in the CCR Act. We met with the Ministers for Agriculture, Revenue, and Cooperation Kurasala Kannababu, Dharmana Prasada Rao, and Kakani Govardhan Reddy but the clause was not repealed,” representatives of Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) told this newspaper.
“The State Government has now assured us that they will repeal the written agreement clause from the CCR Act, and it has already been discussed in cabinet meetings. We are appealing for the process to be expedited,” RSV officials added.