Telangana government launches Rs. 5 lakh life insurance scheme for farmers

The Telangana government launched a Rs.5 lakh insurance programme for farmers in the state, slated to be the first of its kind, under which their families will get the amount irrespective of whether the death is natural or accidental. The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has launched the scheme with the aim of getting the support of the farming community before the 2019 state and parliamentary elections. However, the scheme is limited to farmers aged between 18 and 60 years. The Rythu Bandhu Life Insurance Bonds (as the scheme is called), which is expected to benefit 2.8 million farmers (out of 5.8 million), will cover only land owners who received monetary assistance of Rs.4,000 from the state government to bear farming costs under the “Rythu Bandhu” programme earlier this year. Telangana agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas distributed the life insurance bonds to farmers in Kamareddy district, while officials from the agriculture department took up distribution in other parts of the state.