Congress government’s stricter implementation of eligibility saved expenditure on Rythu Bharosa: Study

The success of schemes like Rythu Bharosa was conditional on the right targeting of beneficiaries, a study by Centre for Economic and Social Studies noted. File. Photo for representational purpose

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy-led Congress government has received appreciation for its stricter enforcement of eligibility criterion for extending benefits under Rythu Bharosa, the farmers’ investment support scheme.

An independent study has pointed out that stricter enforcement of eligibility criteria led to decline in expenditure from ₹13,576 crore in 2023-24 to ₹7,481 crore in 2024-25, a drop of 45%. The report “Public Finances of Telangana: Trends, Challenges and Policy Priorities”, released by the Centre for Economic and Social Studies, quoted the study as part of analysis of three major schemes — Rythu Bharosa, 24X7 free power and Aasara pensions — since the formation of Telangana.

Though these schemes routinely face issues of exclusion and inclusion errors, the success of meeting the objectives behind such schemes is conditional on the right targeting of beneficiaries. Rythu Bharosa (Rythu Bandhu during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi regime) was introduced in 2018-19 as a measure to provide income support to improve production and productivity. Under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, financial assistance was given to all landowners. However, the scheme has been misused and has excluded actual producers.

For instance, in a field study, it was found that major beneficiaries of the scheme were absentee landowners, whereas the tenants who were the actual cultivators did not benefit from the scheme. When the scheme did not have a ceiling on area or number of acres, it was the absentee landowners who owned the largest area received greater aid.

As per the study, the benefits received by the absentee landowners under the Rythu Bandhu was 20.5%. That is, the scheme benefitted the well-off and non-cultivators. “Schemes such as Rythu Bandhu are prone to misuse without right targeting,” the study said.

However, stricter enforcement of the eligibility criteria after the Congress government took over has ensured a significant decline in expenditure, despite increasing support from ₹5,000 to ₹6,000 per acre under Rythu Bharosa.