There is no land ceiling for Rythu Bharosa; only non-agricultural lands are excluded

Hyderabad: The state government is reportedly leaning against imposing a ceiling on the number of hectares eligible under the new Rythu Bharosa scheme, which will replace the existing Rythu Bandhu initiative, which started on Sankranthi. Instead, the government wants to exclude non-agricultural lands to ease financial pressure, official sources said.

Rythu Bharosa promised Rs 15,000 per acre per annum (kharif and rabi at the rate of Rs 7,500 per acre per season), while Rs 10,000 per acre per annum (Rs 5,000 per acre each for kharif and rabi) was extended under Rythu Bandhu, which will impose an additional financial burden on the Congress government.

A review conducted by the Congress government on the implementation of Rythu Bandhu, which ran under the previous BRS government from 2018 to 2024, revealed significant misuse of funds. Non-agricultural lands – including real estate projects, roads and hills – were allocated funds, resulting in an estimated wastage of Rs 25,672.18 crore over six years, an average of Rs 4,000 crore per year. The Congress government believes that these savings can be used to ensure that Rythu Bharosa is implemented without limiting the number of hectares.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy formed a Cabinet sub-committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, to come up with guidelines for Rythu Bharosa. Speculation arose that the Congress government might impose an upper limit of 5 or 10 hectares per farmer, unlike Rythu Bandhu, which had no such limit.

However, sources indicate that the Prime Minister is not in favor of such a ceiling. Data shows that only 10 percent of farmers — about 1,16,722 individuals — own land between 10 and 53 hectares, which amounts to 18.48 lakh acres. In contrast, the majority (56.10 lakh farmers) own less than five hectares each. The Prime Minister believes that limiting benefits to larger landowners could tarnish the government’s image and have political leverage over the opposition BRS.

Instead of imposing a cap, the government plans to conduct a comprehensive agricultural survey to identify and exclude non-agricultural lands, thereby avoiding misallocation of resources. The move could enable the Congress government to fulfill its promise of providing Rs 15,000 per hectare annually without any financial burden.

Rythu Bandhu, introduced by the BRS government in 2018, yielded Rs 10,000 per hectare annually without any restrictions. In 12 installments spread over six years, Rs 80,453.32 crore was disbursed, including the wasted Rs 25,672.18 crore.

While the Congress manifesto also promised Rs 15,000 per year for tenant farmers and Rs 12,000 for agricultural laborers under Rythu Bharosa, the process of identifying the beneficiaries is yet to begin. Official sources suggest that these sections will not be covered by Sankranthi and will be further postponed.

The Cabinet sub-committee report will be tabled during the winter session of the Legislative Assembly starting December 16, with MLAs from all parties expected to provide inputs before the plan’s guidelines are finalized.