9 lakh cheques issued under Rythu Bandhu scheme yet to be distributed: Report

The Revenue Department of the Finance Ministry is sitting on around 9 lakh cheques issued under the Rythu Bandhu scheme that are yet to be distributed, according to a report by The Hindu.

According to the news daily, the department currently has around 1.17 lakh cheques that were issued in the names of people who are now dead. As a result, all these cheques remain undelivered.

Nalgonda in Telangana accounted for the most number of dead persons (9,180) with cheques issued in their name. It was followed by Jagtial (8,980), Kamareddy (8,922), and Mahbubnagar (7,931).

The main reason for the cheques not being distributed to these beneficiaries was the fact that none of their family members had intimated the authorities of their deaths.

In addition to this, around 2.54 lakh cheques remained undistributed because the concerned beneficiaries were not residing in their respective villages. As many as 60,900 beneficiaries were found to be living abroad.

Nearly 3.2 lakh cheques were not distributed because of revenue-related reasons, while 2.7 lakh cheques were not distributed because of other reasons.

In all, the department distributed 47.59 lakh cheques of the 57.88 lakh cheques it was supposed to distribute.

The data also shows that around 47.59 lakh cheques out of the 57.88 lakh targeted were distributed as per the records available under the management information system.

What is Rythu Bandhu scheme?

The Rythu Bandhu scheme, also known as Farmers' Investment Support Scheme (FISS), is a welfare program to support farmers' investment for two crops a year by the Telangana government.

The government is providing 58.33 lakh farmers Rs 4,000 per acre per season to support their investment. The farmers are paid this amount twice a year, once each for the rabi and kharif seasons.