Hyderabad, (Telangana) [India] Apr 21 (ANI): Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday announced that the farmers, lease holders and non-tribals cultivating land under the Recognition of Forest Rights Act (ROFR), will be covered under the Rythu Bandhu scheme.

Chief Minister in a meeting today instructed the officials to distribute Passbooks and Cheques from May 10 as a part of this scheme.

" We have taken up a responsibility which no government in the country or to that matter in the world has ever took. Nobody till date ever made any attempt to survey the lands, issue new passbooks and provide financial assistance as investment support. Hence we have no previous experience. We have formulated on our own these schemes and are implementing. Hence we have to implement the programme with lot of caution and care. We have to prepare the action plan with vision," the CM said.

He instructed that under the district collectors' leadership the entire administration should implement the programme for a week, with their expertise and experience.

The CM suggested that the ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other local body representatives to be made stakeholders in the programme.

He instructed that 58 lakh passbook and cheques are to be distributed.

"Printing of passbooks and Cheque books is in the process of completion and would be over by this month end. Passbooks and cheques will be supplied district, mandal and village wise. Keep them at the district head quarters and send them to the villages concerned. We have made arrangments for the farmers to get cash for their cheques from the banks the moment they present them in the banks."

The minister assured that to help farmers receive the minimum price for their produce, Rs 8,000 would be given as assistance under the scheme per acre to them.

"Farmers Coordination Committees are formed to organize the farmers, get them the Minimum Service Price (MSP) and to create awareness on cultivation and get them proper training. We have appointed 2638 Agriculture Extension Officers, one officer per 5000 acres. We are constructing a dais per farmer cluster. All these should be utilized. Coordination committee should be used to get MSP for the produce, impart training for farmers and to create crop colonies," the CM said.

He also pointed out that Rs 12,000 Crore have been set aside in the Budget for the investment support scheme and Rs 6,000 crore for the first phase of financial assistance will be to be distributed for the monsoon crops.

"This money is kept in the banks. The banks should pay cash to the farmers once farmer presents the Cheque in the bank, or else action would be taken against the erring banks. Farmers should have cash on hands before onset of the monsoon. This is the reason why we are launching the programme in May," the CM explained.

"District collectors should verify the passbook and cheques belonging to their districts and make correction in the entry when there is an error." he said.

He instructed a team of 2762 officials should be put in place that a single team distributes 300 passbooks per day.

"Collectors should determine the strength of the teams based on the number of farmers. Every team should have three members. Give training to the teams in respect to the districts. Invite ministers, MPS, MLAs, MLCs and other public representatives to the programme. Inform people before hand in which village and what day the programme is going to be held." said the minister.

He also added that if the financial assistance given to a farmer is more than Rs 50,000, then two cheques should be issued.

He even pointed out that action would be taken against the bankers who fail to pay the designated amount of cash.

"Some farmers are saying they don't need the financial assistance, so those amounts can be deposited to the account of farmers Coordination Committees," the CM clarified.

The Chief Minister announced these initiatives in a meeting held along with the district collectors, joint collectors, district agriculture officers, ministers, heads of the departments, Chief Secretary Sri SK Joshi, DGP Sri Mahender Reddy and others. The CM made several suggestions on the distribution of the passbooks and cheques.(ANI)

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