Tenant farmers set mid-Sept deadline for recognition to access Telangana govt schemes

HYDERABAD: Tenant farmers have set the second week of September as a deadline for the state administration to commence identifying them, warning of a statewide dharna if the process is not initiated.

Key points

• As provided under the 2011 Act, kiran Vissa of the Sadhana Committee remarked tenant cultivators seeking recognition should be verified through public enquiry at the gram sabha level.
• Chand Bi from Zaheerabad mandal in Sangareddy district remarked benefits such as Rythu Bandhu and crop loans went to landowners while tenant farmers were left without backing.
• Prof Yogendra Yadav remarked he had backed the Congress as of its promises to tenant farmers.
• Ramakanth from Adilabad remarked identification was the first step towards addressing their difficulties.
• MLC Prof Kodandaram called tenant farmers the most vulnerable section of the farming community and pressed a united fight.

At a roundtable organised by the Kaulu Raithula Gurthimpu (Tenant Farmers' Recognition) Sadhana Committee, farmers remarked the lack of recognition had left them without access to institutional credit and administration schemes.

Ramakanth from Adilabad remarked identification was the first step towards addressing their difficulties. "Tenancy has reached Rs 30, 000 to Rs 35, 000 per acre. We are not able to avail any bank loans and have to borrow in the market at higher rates. The administration should problem loan eligibility cards to tenant farmers by holding gram sabhas as laid down in the 2011 Land Licensed Cultivators Act. In the absence of such recognition, we are forced to sell our produce at cheaper rates, " he remarked.

As provided under the 2011 Act, kiran Vissa of the Sadhana Committee remarked tenant cultivators seeking recognition should be verified through public enquiry at the gram sabha level. "OTP-based verification can be an extra option given to the cultivator, but not the only mechanism. There are no policy implementation hurdles. What is needed is political will, " he remarked.

Prof Yogendra Yadav remarked he had backed the Congress as of its promises to tenant farmers. "Lack of progress in implementing the 2011 Act is a dampener and makes me wonder whether there was any merit in backing the party, " he remarked.

MLC Prof Kodandaram called tenant farmers the most vulnerable section of the farming community and pressed a united fight. Prof G Haragopal remarked the demand for "land to the tiller", a slogan for concerning 100 years, had been reduced to merely seeking identification of tenant farmers.

Taken together, the developments around tenant farmers set mid-Sept deadline for recognition to access Telangana govt schemes point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.