Only 4k farmers gave up Rythu Bandhu since start

Scheme Under Flak For Bar On Tenant Farmers

- Sribala Vadlapatla

Hyderabad: Only a little over 4,000 farmers or landowners have opted out of Rythu Bandhu, the direct investment subsidy scheme, since it was introduced in 2018. The roughly Rs 7 crore saved as a result of landowners choosing the ‘Give it up’ option is negligible as the state has spent about Rs 50,000 crore on this initiative.

While small farmers can hardly forego the incentive — Rs 5,000 per acre per season twice a year — the rich have mostly decided to reap the benefit as the cash for large holding is huge and also a belief that being plugged into the scheme validates their title claim.