Adilabad: Namwad Meenaksi and her husband Balaji, belonging to Scheduled Caste of Mukhra (K) village in Echoda mandal used to be daily laborer couple until 2017. They were struggling to make both ends meet. Cut to 2020, they are leading a contended life. They are able to save money for providing quality higher education to their daughter and performing her marriage.
The reason for the change in their lives is that agriculture has become profitable for them as they grow two crops in a piece of three acre land given to Meenakshi under Dalita Basti scheme. Alluri Shesha, another daily wage earner from Tamsi mandal, Kundarapu Sujatha of Deepaiguda in Jainath mandal, Kolluri Meena, a resident of Arli (B) of Adilabad Rural mandal have become owners of cultivable lands, admeasuring three acres each.
In such a phenomenal transformation, once daily earners have now become farmers and achieved self-empowerment. They now feel a sense of security and are proud to be owners of the assets. This reflects how Dalita Basti, a prestigious scheme of the government commenced in 2014, is improving living standards of receivers and bringing about change in their lives.
“Intervention of the then Collector Divya Devarajan, her present counterpart Sikta Patnaik, and Joint Collector G Sandhyarani helped in effective implementation of the scheme. They regularly convene meeting with revenue officials to ensure speedy disposal of land to eligible beneficiaries. Availability of vacant land in the district is one of the reasons for the success of the scheme,” Endrala Shankar, the Executive Director of the corporation told ‘Telangana Today.’
Since inception of the scheme, 1,693 farmers belonging to weaker sections were provided with 4,368 acres of cultivable land in the district, which stood in the first position in implementing the scheme. A sum of Rs 190 crore was spent. A total of 300 acres of land has already been purchased and 500 acres is at various stages as against the annual target 1,000 acres set for this financial year, according to information provided by authorities of SC Corporation.
Jainath mandal is figured at the first place, followed by Thamsi mandal. While 623 beneficiaries of Jainath were given 1,590 acres, a total of 1,034 acres were distributed to 428 landless families belonging to Thamsi mandal. As many 728 acres were sanctioned to 272 families in Bheempur mandal. Adilabad Rural mandal’s 116 families from weaker sections got 311 acres under the scheme.
Talvare Laxmi, a beneficiary from Mukhra (K) said that her family achieved financial empowerment and was living with prestige in the society. “I am proud to be the owner of three acres of land and for becoming a farmer. I am raising cotton and red gram crops every year. I am registering anywhere between Rs 2 lakh and 3 lakh per annum,” she disclosed
The government is spending somewhere between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5.5 lakh per acre. It is also providing crop investment support Rs 14,600 each acre apart from extending Raithu Bandhu scheme through which Rs 10,000 is given per acre. A sum of Rs 6.33 crore was sanctioned for offering the aid to the beneficiaries from 2015 to 2020.