Cash Transfers As a Policy Instrument in Agriculture: Study of the Rythu
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Cash Transfers as a Policy Instrument in Agriculture: Study of the Rythu Bandhu Scheme and the Land Record Updation Programme in Telangana Padmini Ramesh A project report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for The Degree of Master of Arts in Development Studies Centre for Development Studies School of Development Studies Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai 2020 1 DECLARATION I, Padmini Ramesh, hereby declare that this dissertation entitled ‘Cash Transfers as a Policy Instrument in Agriculture: Study of the Rythu Bandhu Scheme and the Land Record Updation Programme in Telangana’ is the outcome of my own study undertaken under the guidance of Dr. R. Ramakumar, Centre for Study of Developing Economies, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. It has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, or certificate of this Institute or of any other institute or university. I have duly acknowledged all the sources used by me in the preparation of this dissertation. 30-03-2020 Padmini Ramesh M2018DS028 2 CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation entitled ‘Cash Transfers as a Policy Instrument in Agriculture: Study of the Rythu Bandhu Scheme and the Land Record Updation Programme in Telangana’ is the record of the original work done by Padmini Ramesh under my guidance and supervision. The results of the research presented in this dissertation/thesis have not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, or certificate of this Institute or any other institute or university. 30-03-2020 Dr. R. Ramakumar Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Economies, School of Development Studies, TISS, Mumbai 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank various people for their help on my dissertation. First and foremost, I’d have to thank my guide -Dr. R. Ramakumar for guiding me at every step of this dissertation, giving his inputs and insights and having faith in me. Special thanks to him for having tolerated all my phone calls and nagging messages, and doing it with a smile. This dissertation would not have been possible without him. I would like to thank Rythu Swarajya Vedika for having given me access to the field, helping me out with translations and making my field work possible. I would like to thank the entire family of Karunakar Reddy for having hosted me with so much warmth, love and affection in their village for such a long duration. Additionally, I would like to thank Meera Aunty, Raman Uncle, Paddu Aunty for allowing me to stay at their place for over a month in Hyderabad and treating me with a lot of love. A special thanks to Shruti, Harsha, Naveen from Rythu Swarajya Vedika and the collector of Adilabad- Mrs Divya Devarajan for having been there for me during tough times on the field. I would also like to thank Ashish for having given me important information and inputs regarding my dissertation whenever I needed it. I would like to thank all my classmates- especially Rahul, Revati, Nikita, Upasana and Nagesh for being there with me in the span of these two year and always having my back. These 5 have been my strongest support systems at TISS as well as a constant source of comfort. My biggest thanks to my family- Ma, Daddy, Meera Didi and Maggie (my dog) and to Avikal for having faith in me, loving me and making me who I am today. 4 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1 A History of major events marking India’s shift towards cash- transfers Table 1.2 Administrative Divisions and Designated Officers of the Revenue Department in Telangana State Table 1.3 Combined Landholding sizes of the 423 households based on SKS data Table 1.4 Sample details of farming households across different land- holdings based on Proportionate Sampling Table 1.5 Sample details of farming households across different land- holdings based on Proportionate Sampling (Revised) Table 2.1 Number and Percentage of Complaints of each type of Land Issue based on Kisan Mitra Helpline data Table 3.1 Details of Rythu Bandhu on Various Parameters Table 3.2 Caste Composition of all Farmers across Land-holding sizes Table 3.3 Preferences of 91 farmers about whether Tenants should be given Cash-Transfer under Rythu Bandhu Table 3.4 Usage Patterns of the Cash Transfer in Kharif Season Table 3.5 Usage Patterns of the Cash Transfer in Rabi Season Table 3.6 Share of the Annual Cash Transfer under Rythu Bandhu as a percentage of Annual Income (Household Level) for all land- holding sizes Table 3.7 Preferences of farmers between Cash transfers and Direct Input Subsidies Table 3.8 Preferences of farmers between Cash Transfers (Income Support) and desired MSP (Price Support) Table 3.9 Preferences of farmers between Cash transfers (Income Support) and desired MSP (Price Support) across land-holding sizes Table 3.10 Percentage of farmers with access to Price Support (Percentage of Farmers who were able to sell their crops at MSP last year) 5 Table 3.11 Preferences of farmers between Cash transfers (Income Support) and desired MSP (Price Support) across Castes Table 3.12 Preferences of farmers between Uniform Cash Transfer and Cash Transfer Based on land ownership Table 3.13 Sources of Credit (Institutionalized and Non Institutionalized) among farmers Table 3.14 Percentage of Farmers who reported that the cash transfer reduced their dependence on loan Table 5.1 Sources of Credit of farmers across different Land-Holding Sizes 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Caste Composition of all Farmers across Land-holding sizes Figure 3.2 Land-Holding Composition of the farmers who did not receive the complete Amount under Rythu Bandhu in one/ both the seasons Figure 3.3 Reach of Rythu Bandhu Scheme during Kharif Season Figure 3.4 Percentage of farmers who got either complete/ partial/no cash transfer across both the seasons Figure 3.5 Percentage of farmers who got the complete cash transfer for both the seasons across castes Figure 3.6 Preferences of 91 farmers about whether Tenants should be given Cash-Transfer under Rythu Bandhu (in %) Figure 3.7 Cash Transfer Usage Pattern among farmers for Kharif Season Figure 3.8 Cash Transfer Usage Pattern among farmers for Rabi Season Figure 3.9 Amount Spent on “Other Use” Across Seasons Figure 3.10 Percentage the cash transfer covered of the cost of cultivation across land-holding sizes Figure 3.11 Percentage the cash transfer covered of the cost of cultivation on an average for different land-holding sizes Figure 3.12 Share of the Annual Cash Transfer under Rythu Bandhu as a percentage of Annual Income (Household Level) across land-holding sizes Figure 3.13 Percentage of Farmers who found Rs 5,000 per acre per season a sufficient cash-transfer amount across land-holding seasons Figure 3.14 Preferences of farmers between cash and direct inputs across land- holding sizes Figure 3.15 Preferences of farmers between Cash Transfers and desired MSP Figure 3.16 Preferences of farmers between Cash Transfers and desired MSP across land-holding sizes Figure 3.17 Preferences of farmers between Cash Transfers and desired MSP across land-holding sizes Figure 3.18 Preferences of farmers between Uniform Cash Transfer and Cash Transfer Based on Land-Ownership 7 Figure 3.19 Cash-Transfer as a share of Total Debt for all farmers across land- holding sizes Figure 3.20 Average share of Cash-Transfer as a share of Total Debt for farmers across land-holding Figure 5.1 Gender-Composition of all farmers Figure 5.2 The Percentage of Land-Owners who had Passbook in their names, in their relatives’ names or both Figure 5.3 Land Leasing Patterns of all 91 farmers Figure 5.4 Cash-Transfer Usage Pattern among farmers who claimed that cash transfer actually helped them in cultivation Figure 5.5 Preferences between cash transfers and direct inputs among farmers who claimed that cash transfer actually helped them in cultivation Figure 5.6 Preferences between Income Support and Price Support and Cash- Transfer Usage Patterns 8 GLOSSARY 1) Bhu-Naksha:- Bhu-Nasha is a software launched by the government of Harayana for spatial data and property subdivisions. 2) BHOOMI:- Bhoomi is a project initiated by the government of Karnataka to manage land records. It has gained popularity for automating and modernizing the process of producing the Record of Rights, Tenancy and crops (RTC) and managing applications for changes in the mutation register. 3) CORS:- CORS stands for Continuously Operating Reference Station. It is a technology which has been accepted off-late to generate 3-dimensional geographical positioning data of land and built up area. 4) Dharani:- Dharani is a plat-form established by the government of Telangana as part of its broader digitization effort. It is an integrated land record management system that seeks to link all the three land record department (Revenue, Registration and Settlement Departments) to have a comprehensive digitized database of land-records. 5) e-Trex GPS devices:- eTrex devices are consumer-grade receivers that can track both GPS and GLONASS satellites simultaneously. They are hand-held, easy to use and compact and can be used for surveying land, among other things. 6) ETS (Electronic Total Station):- Total station is an electronic/optical instrument used in modern surveying and building construction. 7) Geo-Referencing:- Geo-referencing refers to the phenomenon where the internal coordinate system of a map or aerial photo image can be linked to a ground system of geographic coordinates. 8) Gram Sabha:- Gram Sabha is a meeting of all adults who live in the area covered by a Panchayat.