HYDERABAD: The vote-on-account Union budget, presented on February 1, was a mixed bag of many surprises for Indians across the socio-economic spectrum. However, the highlight of the interim budget was Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). For the members of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), this was our crowning moment in the 16th Lok Sabha, for we were the pioneers of farm-investment support scheme in India. 

Ever since the farming distress intensified, farm-loan waivers determined electoral politics in the country. While this populist measure faced onslaught for being economically unsound, desperate political parties resorted to announcing waivers nonetheless. However, in Telangana, CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao lent a sympathetic ear and initiated fruitful discussions to reach a solution that precludes demands for waivers. Thus, the Rythu Bandhu scheme was born.

The scheme provides `5,000 of investment per acre per season from FY19, bringing the annual farming investment to `10,000 for the rabi and kharif seasons. The 58.33 lakh enrolled-farmers retain the grant irrespective of the crop output. That the incumbent TRS party retained power without promising farm loan waivers is to be seen as a success of the scheme and not a miracle. 

The PM-KISAN programme, on the other hand, digresses from the Rythu Bandhu on some major parameters. The Centre’s programme gives `6,000 per annum for ‘cultivable’ land up to approximately five acres. The corresponding amount that a farmer would receive in Telangana instead would be `50,000. Therefore, it is a mere pittance that farmers would receive under the Centre’s scheme, and it provides states like Telangana no impetus to accede to the Centre’s programme.

Lack of preparation 
Now for the implementation part. Telangana government worked rigorously for 18 months on infrastructure and logistics before the first payments were made to 48 lakh farmers. Despite the background work, we continue to receive complaints of errors in fund transfers. 

Regarding PM-KISAN, the preparation for the implementation is highly lackadaisical. As per the current status-report of the Union Ministry of Agriculture, all that has been done is sending notices to Chief Secretaries of States/UTs. The first payments under the PM-KISAN scheme are due in March this year. If the government fails in making those payments, the instalment would lapse. Therefore, it is evident that the lack of preparation will entail mistakes in implementation. It is a folly to aim at 100 per cent percolation of the scheme on such short notice. 

The retrospective application of the scheme, while is a judicious decision, the congruence of the national scheme with other state-level farming investment schemes should have been elaborated upon. However, as such details could be straightened out in near future, it is of utmost importance to roll out the programme at the earliest. The implementation, let alone the success of this programme would be unrealistic without the cooperation of State governments. As the reality stands, the Government of India lacks the on-ground penetration to ensure that the scheme reaches the intended beneficiaries. Calling an urgent meeting of Chief Ministers or assembling the Agriculture Ministers of respective States and UTs from across the country will show the Central government’s seriousness in implementing this scheme.

For that very reason, I offer the Centre our seasoned bureaucrats of Telangana who have spent years in perfecting the implementation of the Rythu Bandhu scheme. I encourage the governments of Jharkhand and Odisha, who run similar programmes, to follow suit. Such out-of-box thinking by mobilising all possible resources on a war-footing is now indispensable if the government intends to keep its word.

(The author is the floor leader for TRS in Lok Sabha. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect that of Express)