Hyderabad: In a shocking revelation, some women in Telangana have been caught trying to exploit the state govt’s Rythu Bima insurance, a scheme designed to provide financial aid to the families of farmers who pass away. These women, allegedly claiming that their husbands had died, were attempting to pocket Rs 5 lakh insurance money despite the fact that their spouses are very much alive.
A series of investigations has revealed that women in some districts of Telangana submitted fraudulent claims to the govt, providing false death certificates and other fabricated documents. In some cases, the ‘deceased’ men were found alive, going about their daily lives, completely unaware of the claims being made on their behalf.
In a recent fraud unearthed by agriculture officials, a woman in Medak received Rs 5 lakh Rythu Bima amount after she claimed it, saying her husband had died. The panchayat secretary of the village also provided a letter saying that the woman’s husband had died and therefore she was eligible for the insurance money from the govt.
“The application procedures were followed, and the family also misled officials, saying that the man had died,” an agriculture official told TOI. However, officials filed a police complaint on Dec 17 when they came to know that the woman’s husband was alive but estranged from her.
Jyothi of Guttakindipalli village in Medak mandal claimed that her husband Pitla Srinu had died in 2021. She got Rs 5 lakh from the govt and another Rs 2 lakh from the bank as an insurance amount. The agriculture official said they verified with others in the village and all of them said Srinu is alive and visits the village occasionally.
“We have received a complaint from agriculture officials about the fraud. The woman and the panchayat secretary will be questioned, and action will be taken as per law,” a police officer of Haveli Ghanpur police station told TOI on Wednesday.
This incident also highlights a deeper issue: The increasing ease with which fraud can be committed in govt schemes, particularly when the verification process is weak or ineffective.
Officials said in two other cases also, they detected a fraud. Padma got Rs 5 lakh on April 7, 2021, after she submitted an application for Rythu Bima with a certificate from the panchayat secretary that her husband Lenka Mallesham had died on Jan 15, 2021.
On Dec 17, when officials visited Burgupalli village in Medak district to tell farmers about PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, they were shocked to find that farmer Mallesham is alive and not dead as his wife Padma had claimed. The man reportedly was not in touch with the family for several years after he told them that he was shifting to Hyderabad to take up work. Officials filed a complaint with Medak rural police, which has taken up the investigation.
Medak district agriculture officer M Govind told TOI that another case of fraud also came to their notice. Sekavva, also of Guttakindipalli village, applied for Rythu Bima claiming that her husband Eligada Mallesham had died in 2023 though he is alive. She got a certificate from the local panchayat on the ‘death’ of Mallesham. Sekavva received Rs 5 lakh Rythu Bima money and another Rs 2 lakh insurance amount from the bank.
“We have identified certain individuals who were involved in all these cases. We have lodged police cases against them,” Govind said.
Rythu Bima aims to offer support to the families of deceased farmers by providing Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the family. The scheme was hailed as a safety net for rural households, ensuring that the sudden death of a breadwinner would not leave the families in disarray.
