Rythu Bima (Telangana Farmers' Group Life Insurance Scheme)

Why it matters

Every enrolled farmer's family gets Rs 5 lakh life insurance cover if the farmer dies of any cause, with no paperwork burden on the grieving family.

What you get

Launched on 14 August 2018, Rythu Bima is a group life insurance scheme covering all farmers in Telangana aged 18 to 59 years who own agricultural land (tenant farmers are also covered subject to scheme conditions), providing an insured sum of Rs 5,00,000 to the nominee in the event of the farmer's death from any cause — including natural death, accident, or illness — not just farming-related incidents. The annual premium is Rs 1,200 per farmer (later revised to around Rs 3,400 per farmer for full life-cause coverage), the bulk of which is subsidized by the state government, and the scheme is implemented through the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Its standout design feature is that the family does not need to visit any office to claim: village-level outreach officers collect death information from revenue department records and submit it to LIC on the nominee's behalf, with the payout credited directly to the nominee's bank account within about 10 days.

Eligibility criteria

• Must be a Telangana farmer aged 18 to 59 years who owns agricultural land (tenant farmers also covered under scheme conditions)
• Must be enrolled in the scheme database maintained by the Agriculture Department
• One claim per enrolled farmer; nominee must be registered at enrollment

How to apply

1. 1

   Enrollment is done automatically by the Agriculture Department using land records and Dharani/revenue data — no separate application typically needed for landholding farmers

2. 2

   Ensure your nominee details are correctly registered with the local Agriculture Extension Officer

3. 3

   On the farmer's death, the village revenue/outreach officer initiates the claim with LIC on behalf of the nominee

Documents required

• Aadhaar card
• Land ownership records (Dharani/Pattadar passbook)
• Nominee bank account details
• Death certificate (collected by outreach officer at time of claim)