Will the government exclude us from the Rythu Bandhu Scheme? What is the intent of the government in collecting such minute details from us?
These are some of the questions faced by the teams of Agriculture Department surveyors in the undivided Adilabad district who are currently on the job of Rythu Samagra Samachara Sekarana (RSSS) or collection of integrated information from farmers. Farmers with a land holding of over 5 acres seem to be harbouring the misgivings that they may be deprived of the investment support under the RBS and the doubt appears to be a general phenomenon going by the experience of the surveyors.
“Yes, we are being asked if the government intends to restrict RBS to small and marginal farmers only. This doubt has cropped up as a result of the Central government limiting the investment support of ₹ 6,000 per year to farmers with a land holding of 5 acres or less under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana 2019,” revealed an official of the Agriculture Department in Adilabad district.
Dispelling doubts
“We are, however, dispelling the doubts of the farmers so that they give accurate details as required through the 44 column proforma in Part B of the RSSS. We are telling them that the details given by them will help the government in planning programmes properly for their own benefit,” another official from Nirmal district added.
The survey envisages collection of details of individual farmers at micro level apparently aimed at micro planning in the future. Among the details being asked of the farmers are those relating to the crop types, soil types, availability of irrigation and its types, nearest markets, crop insurance details and of course, individual demographic profiles to give a clear picture.
The RSSS was started in erstwhile Adilabad a few days back, the deadline for completion of the survey being May 20. It envisages collection of details of nearly 5 lakh farmers in the given area whose land records have been purified and uploaded on the Rythu Bandhu portal.
Tribal farmers
The survey will leave out the over 55,000 tribal farmers who cultivate lands on which rights were given to them under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. This could become a cause of anxiety among tribal farmers in near future, officials feel.