Telangana, a constituent state of south-central India was formed as a political entity on June 2, 2014, which was carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Telangana is having tropical climate and is located on the Deccan plateau, an area with semi-dry weather. The agriculture sector in Telangana was contracting between 2014 and 2016, coinciding with the formation of the fledgling state, so the government introduced numerous farmer-friendly programmes, including loan waivers, free electricity, minor irrigation support, interest-free loans, and crop insurance. Despite these measures, the state continued to have the farmers` suicides in the country, with over 4000 farmer suicides between 2014 and 2018. Indebtedness, failure of crops due to erratic rainfall, and lack of access to irrigation were among the causes of suicides in Telangana (Prudhviraj, 2018). Against the backdrop of the widespread agrarian distress, the state initiated a unique Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, the Rythu Bandhu Scheme (RBS) for the welfare of farmers in the state. Rythu Bandhu literally means ‘Friend of Farmer’. The scheme has two primary objectives: first, to facilitate greater investment and use of modern inputs in agriculture, and second, to reduce their dependence on credit from informal sources. The scheme is thus aimed directly at increasing productivity, improving incomes, relieving the debt burden of the farmers and reducing the farmers’ suicide to zero.

Implementation of the scheme Rythu Bandhu

                In Telangana, investment is a key way to enhance agricultural productivity and also incomes of the farmers, besides breaking the vicious cycle of rural indebtedness. To ensure that the farmers do not fall again into the debt trap, a new scheme called the “Farmers’ Investment Support Scheme” (RythuBandhu) is being implemented. The Honourable Chief Minister of Telangana made the announcement on February 25, 2018 during the Farmers Coordination Committee (Rythu Samanvaya Samithi) conference held at Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University in Hyderabad. On the 10^th of May 2018, it was launched at Dharmarajpalli village in the Karimnagar district of Telangana. A budget of Rs 12,000 core was provided for the financial year 2018-19 and it included service charges payable to banks and also administrative expenditure for implementing the scheme. The RBS is a direct benefit transfer of cash to all eligible farmers within the state.

Telangana is a unique and intriguing case for studying the implementation of an agriculture income support programme. It is because, unlike other states that have rolled out similar schemes, Telangana`s state government carried a state-wide land records updation drive (LRUP), which included the correction of errors, updating of land records, and the issuance of digital and secure Pattadhar Pass Books (PPBs) to owners of agricultural land parcels prior to the scheme`s implementation (Thomas et al., 2020). The updated and purified land record database formed the basis for implementing the Farmers’ Investment Support Scheme (Rythu Bandhu Scheme). The scheme is monitored with the Rythu Bandhu portal developed by The National Informatics Center (NIC), Telangana state.

The broad details of the scheme

Rythu Bandhu Scheme is implemented by the Government of Telangana to take care of the initial investment needs of every farmer. It was launched for providing investment support to agriculture and horticulture crops as an incentive of Rs. 4000/- per acre per farmer each season for purchase of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, labour and other investments in the field operations of farmer’s choice for the crop season (Shankar, 2020). However, the assistance was enhanced to Rs.5000/acre/season from 2019-20. The assistance was provided in the form of cheques during vanakalam (Kharif) 2018 and the amount was directly transferred into the pattadars (landowners) accounts using the e-Kuber platform of Reserve Bank of India since Yasangi (Rabi) 2018. In a bid to reduce leakages, the Government decided to transfer the benefits directly into the farmer’s bank account (Telangana action plan 2020-21).

Eligibility for the scheme:

The RBS benefits are available to all land-owning farmers in the state. This includes farmers in scheduled areas and forest areas as well as those who have been granted rights under the Forest Rights Act.

No upper limit on land holding:

There is no ceiling on the extent of landholdings of farmers, for consideration under the scheme. The scheme, therefore, covers small, marginal, medium, and large farmers in the state. If a farmer is eligible to get more than Rs. 49,000, two cheques, one for Rs. 49,000/- and the second cheque for the amount exceeding Rs. 49,000/- would be issued to the beneficiary farmer.

Exclusion of tenant farmers:

Tenant farmers and landless farmers have been excluded from the purview of the RBS

Documents Required

 The following documents are required, for applying the scheme

·   Pattadar Passbook

·   Aadhar card

·   Voter ID card

·   Pan card

·   Below Poverty Line (BPL) certificate

·   Land ownership papers

·   Caste certificate

·   Address proof

·   Bank account details

Participating Banks

·   State Bank of India

·   Andhra Bank

·   Syndicate Bank

·   Corporation Bank

·   Indian Overseas Bank

·   Canara Bank

·   AP GrameenaVikas Bank

·   Telangana Grameena Bank

·   IDBI Bank

·   TSCAB

 The ease of access for beneficiaries is a notable feature of the scheme. Beneficiaries do not need to apply with cumbersome papers or visit government offices because the implementation has relied on pre-existing land records and direct transfers to bank accounts. It marks a new paradigm of designing development schemes focused on ensuring minimal or no costs to beneficiaries for accessing the scheme benefits. (Socio-economic outlook 2021)

Achievements under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme

During Kharif 2018-19, about 51.50 lakh farmers are benefitted to a tune of Rs. 5,260.94 crore, which was delivered in the form of cheques. During Rabi 2018-19, the government has chosen to deposit money into farmers` accounts using the Treasury – e-Kuber system with a total amount of Rs. 5,244.26 crore, which was transferred to 49.03 lakh farmers` accounts. (Socio-Economic Outlook, 2019). The Telangana government has enhanced the amount under the Investment Support Scheme from Rs. 4,000/- to Rs. 5,000/- per acre each season in 2019-20. An amount of Rs.5, 456.65 Crore was transferred into the accounts of 44.92 lakh farmers in Kharif 2019-20 (Socio-economic outlook 2020). Out of the total beneficiaries, 90% of farmers were marginal and small and only 0.1% were large farmers in 2020.This reveals how the scheme has benefited the farmers who need investment support the most. In the 2020-21 budgets, 75.4% of the agricultural budget and 7.7% of the total budget were allocated for the Rythu Bandhu Scheme. Further, the Government has transferred an amount of Rs. 14,651 crore directly into the bank accounts of pattadars through direct cash transfers. (Telangana Socio-Economic Outlook, 2021) The scheme directly benefits between 58 Lakhs to 60 Lakhs landowning households depending on the season. In 2020-21, a total of Rs. 14,651 crores were disbursed under the scheme despite the lower revenues due to the COVID pandemic-related disruptions in the economy (Table 1).

The Telangana government has gained national and international acclaim for the Rythu Bandhu Scheme. Rythu Bandhu has also inspired other direct income assistance initiatives for farmers across the country since its inception. On similar lines, in February 2019, the Government of India launched the PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) scheme, which provides Rs. 6,000 to small and marginal farmers.

Table 1: Rythu Bandhu Scheme disbursements

Source: Socio-Economic outlook 2021, Telangana.

 Table 2: A comparative analysis of Rythu Bandhu with similar schemes in other states