Более 61% касты Scheduled Caste в Телангане не имеют земли и почти не застрахованы

Hyderabad: More than 61 per cent of Scheduled Caste (SC) households in Telangana do not own any land, while less than one per cent, 0.68 per cent, of those have crop insurance, according to a recent study. For the study, An Empirical Investigation into Agricultural Livelihoods of SCs in Telangana, the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) surveyed 10,213 SC households across all 33 districts, covering 300 villages and 100 urban wards, said a report in The New Indian Express. The study shows that there are about 31.35 per cent marginal farmers and 61.22 per cent small farmers in the state. The figures cover both rural and urban households. A separate household-mapping exercise across the 400 locations found that 62.5 per cent of families were landless. The lack of land ownership prevents them from accessing agricultural welfare schemes such as Rythu Bharosa and Rythu Bhima, the study found. Gap in crop insurance coverage The study also found a major gap in crop insurance coverage. As mentioned above, only 0.68 per cent of the SC farmers surveyed had crop insurance, but through private insurance companies. Village-level data analysed as part of the study showed that borewells were the primary source of irrigation for 70.9 per cent of SC households in rural Telangana. This was followed by canal irrigation, which was accessed by 30.4 per cent of households, while 27.7 per cent relied on open wells and 19.6 per cent on tanks. The study noted that many SC farmers own land located far from canals, tanks and other surface water sources, restricting their access to irrigation. As a result, they are increasingly reliant on private irrigation infrastructure, the report said. Meanwhile, only 11.34 per cent of SC farmers said they availed of agricultural services through mobile phones.