Rythu Vedikas in-built part of new agri laws

Hyderabad: A silent revolution is shaping up in Telangana, at a time, when the farmers are protesting the Central farm laws on the outskirts of the national capital - with the construction of the Rythu Vedikas nearing completion.

Rythu Vedikas, according to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was like conquering a kingdom. While inaugurating the first Rythu Vedika in October, KCR said that they would unify and educate farmers to make agriculture not only a profitable business, but also a farmer-driven enterprise.

He said these platforms will serve multi-purpose activities, including farmers interaction, training and awareness programmes on various activities, including marketing, skill upgradation and usage of the latest technology, among others. They will also double-up as platforms for holding discussions on crop cultivation for the season, pricing, ways and means to minimise influence of middlemen and utilise them as godowns.

He emphasised on the point that it was the first of its kind initiative in the country and were essentially motivational platforms to secure remunerative prices for their produce, ensure higher productivity and make farming a profitable activity.

Reeling out statistics, KCR said the State government had earmarked Rs 572.22 crore towards the total construction cost at Rs 22 lakh per Rythu Vedika. Of the total cost, Rs 12 lakh will be met by the Agriculture Department and the remaining Rs 10 lakh will be met from MGNREGS funds. In the 2020-21 budget, the State government allocated Rs 350 crore and took up construction of 2,601 Rythu Vedikas.

But the fact is that this initiative was not the first of its kind in the country. It was part of the new farm laws and they were constructed with a central component of Rs 10 lakh from MGNREGS funds. Many other States which had accepted the new farm laws were also constructing such Rytu Vedikas. As each state has the freedom to give a suitable name to it, they have given different names.

With the State Government taking a U- turn and announcing its support to the new farm laws, doubts were raised over the utility of these Rytu Vedikas. Speaking to The Hans India, a senior SAD official said that there was no need for any apprehension about their utility since each Vedika will take care of a cluster of 5,000 acres. It will have the office of the Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO)- the first touch point of the Agriculture department to the farmers.

They will help farmers to organise themselves to discuss and raise their voice on issues bothering them. They include demand for better prices for their agriculture produce and marketing facilities. The meeting halls are also meant for imparting skill development and training to farmers on better agriculture practices and crop management in the agriculture and allied sectors. One of the objectives of the vedikas is to act as a platform to help farmers for proper selling of their product against the backdrop of the Centre's farm laws giving them freedom from the compulsory selling of their product at the Agriculture Market Yards. They will also act as places for the Telangana Rashtra Rythu Samanvaya Samithi, a government's public company limited by shares.