HYDERABAD: Despite the state government’s grand launch of the Indiramma Athmeeya Bharosa scheme on Republic Day, promising Rs 12,000 per annum to agricultural labourers — similar to Rythu Bharosa for farmers — its implementation has been delayed, leaving lakhs of beneficiaries waiting for financial assistance.
While the government has identified over 5 lakh beneficiaries, only 18,000 have received assistance on the launch day. So far, Rs 6,000 per beneficiary has been disbursed to one village in each mandal across over 600 mandals, with the total expenditure at just Rs 11 crore for implementation of the scheme as of now.
While the government has assured the remaining beneficiaries that they will receive payments in the first week of February, the scheme remains stalled.
Additionally, during the Praja Palana programme, nearly 2 lakh fresh applications were submitted by individuals claiming to have worked at least 20 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in 2023-2024 and without landholdings, as required by the scheme.
Interestingly, while Rythu Bharosa and Indiramma Athmeeya Bharosa were launched simultaneously, only the former has been fully implemented, with funds disbursed to farmers with landholdings below one acre.
Frustrated by the delay, eligible agricultural labourers are pressing government officials for answers. During a recent CLP meeting, several MLAs raised concerns with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, stating that the lack of implementation of various welfare schemes has become a major issue in their segments, with applicants repeatedly questioning them at public events.
In response, the government cited the state’s financial status as the primary reason behind the delay in the implementation of welfare schemes.