BJP Seeks All-Party Meet Over Tenant Farmers Woes

Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday demanded that the state government conduct an all-party meeting to discuss the problems being faced by the tenant farmers, who he claimed were being deprived of any benefit from any welfare schemes being extended to the agriculture sector.

In an open letter to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Kumar suggested that the representatives of various farmers' organisations and intellectuals also be invited to the meeting.

Kumar said that there were around 14 lakh tenant farmers in the state, who were depending on cultivation on lands taken on lease from other farmers. Since there was no recognition to them from the government as farmers, they had become ineligible to get the benefits of any welfare schemes being extended to farmers.

"Though tenant farmers are also depending on agriculture like any other farmers, schemes like Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bheema and Kalyana Lakshmi are not applicable to them. They don't get the subsidies on seeds and fertilisers, and are not eligible to get crop loans from banks. It is unfortunate that the tenant farmers, who toil day and night, are not able to get the benefits of the welfare schemes, while the big farmers who have never done any cultivation in their lives are getting the financial assistance under Rythu Bandhu, apart from the lease amount from the tenant farmers," he said.

Kumar pointed out that the 11th Five-Year Plan had clearly suggested that the states make appropriate amendments to the Tenancy Act without taking away the rights of the land owners.

"The amendment to the Tenancy Act is meant for ensuring security to the tenant farmers and protection of interests of the land owner. However, the state government has not been providing any rights to the tenant farmers, and is refusing even to recognise them as farmers. This is highly deplorable," he said.

The BJP president said that the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) had suggested that tenant farmers be given crop loans at 0.25% loan. The Andhra Pradesh government was also extending all the benefits of the farmer welfare schemes to tenant farmers too. "But the TRS government has been discriminating against small and marginal farmers, who are depending on tenancy cultivation. This is unpardonable," he said.

Asserting that the real farmer was the one who tilled the land and did the cultivation, Kumar said that it was the responsibility of the government to provide all the benefits given to farmers, including crop bonus and subsidised seeds and fertilisers, to tenant farmers too.

"If necessary, the government should enact new legislations or appropriately amend the existing laws so as to come to the rescue of the tenant farmers," he demanded.