Rythu Bandhu: Over 7.5 lakh farmers will benefit in Medak

As many as 7.59 lakh farmers will benefit from the investment subsidy scheme Rythu Bandhu in the united Medak district. About Rs 676 crore are to be directly credited into the accounts of the farmers for which officials were directed to collect the details of eligible farmers by visiting villages.As per directions from the election commission, the subsidy will not be provided in the form of cheques, instead the money will be directly deposited to accounts of the beneficiaries. Officials had collected the information like bank accounts, Aadhar card number, among other documents, but in order to transfer the money directly, officials will have to go on another round of collecting bank details. On Wednesday, the officials started the process of data collection.

The scheme will be applicable to those farmers who received the benefit in last Kharif season. Agriculture officials are looking to complete all deposits by month end. Siddipet agriculture official Sravan Kumar said that last year they have handed over cheques of Rs 218 crores to 2.14 lakh farmers in Siddipet district. He added that subsidy amount of NRIs was also deposited into their accounts.

Sravan Kumar said there was no explanation on the distribution of cheques to the NRIs from the government, and added that the policy was started first in  Siddipet. Medak agriculture officer Parashuram said cheques worth Rs156 crore were distributed to 1.90 lakh beneficiaries.