In Telangana's fields, tenant farmers are pouring money into leased land but remain locked out of the state's welfare system, held hostage by a single one-time password (OTP) tied to the landowner's mobile number. This digital choke point has turned into a modern barrier, exposing deep flaws in farm support delivery.
The OTP Dependency
Tenant farmers across Telangana depend on landowners' OTP approvals to sell crops, claim compensation, or access government schemes. Since benefits are linked to the landowner's mobile number, this dependency has become a major hurdle, according to a survey spanning 22 districts. K Sadanandam, a farmer from Karimnagar, explained: 'Landowners often take advantage. When we ask for OTPs, they suspect us and refuse, causing us to miss out on many benefits.'
Informal Agreements and Official Records
Most tenancy agreements remain informal, based on verbal understandings rather than registered contracts. As a result, official records recognise landowners instead of cultivators, leaving tenant farmers vulnerable during critical agricultural phases. Delays are common when landowners are unwilling or unavailable to provide OTPs.
Institutional Credit Challenges
Institutional credit remains elusive as well. Banks demand formal proof of cultivation, forcing tenant farmers into private lending markets. Despite making up nearly 36% of farming households, 92.6% of tenant farmers have never received loan eligibility cards. For many, the central struggle is not farming itself but gaining recognition as the rightful cultivators of the land they till.
The situation underscores a systemic issue where digital initiatives intended to streamline aid have inadvertently created new barriers for the most vulnerable. Tenant farmers, who play a crucial role in the state's agriculture, continue to face exclusion from the very systems designed to support them.
