Tenant farmers seek recognition

Metro India News | Vikarabad

A district-level meeting of tenant farmers, organised by the Telangana Tenant Farmers Recognition Committee, was held in Vikarabad on Friday, with participants demanding immediate issuance of identity cards under the Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011.

Before the meeting, committee leaders met Vikarabad Collector Deepak Tiwari and submitted a memorandum along with findings from a statewide survey on tenant farmers. The Collector acknowledged their hardships and assured them he would urge the state government to initiate the recognition process through a policy decision. The meeting was attended by tenant farmers from nine mandals, along with representatives of farmers' organisations and civil society groups.

Speakers said over 36 per cent of Telangana's cultivators are tenant farmers, but the absence of official recognition denies them access to subsidised fertilisers, crop loans, crop loss compensation, Rythu Bima insurance and government procurement facilities. They alleged that the lack of recognition has deepened financial distress and contributed to farmer suicides. The committee presented findings from its survey of 1,816 tenant farmers across 22 districts, 47 mandals and 58 villages, saying the report had already been submitted to the government.

Tenant farmers urged the state to implement the Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011, by issuing annual identity cards and extending all welfare schemes to recognised cultivators. They also sought an end to the OTP-based verification system linked to landowners, saying it prevents tenant farmers from accessing government benefits and institutional credit.