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Aid delay makes drought-hit farmers edgy
More than 21 lakh drought-affected farmers in Telangana are eagerly awaiting Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s nod to receive nearly Rs 1,000 crore input subsidy.
A total of 21 lakh farmers are eagerly looking for input subsidy from the government; Chief Minister is yet to give his nod
Hyderabad: More than 21 lakh drought-affected farmers in Telangana are eagerly awaiting Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s nod to receive nearly Rs 1,000 crore input subsidy. Though the Centre has released Rs 703 crore in three spells before April 2016, the State government is yet to sanction its matching grant of Rs 286 crore, as proposed by the Department of Agriculture.
According to Revenue Department officials, the Agriculture Department had forwarded proposals for Rs 989 crore to the Centre, but the latter had extended an assistance of only Rs 703 crore. The remaining differential amount needs to be provided by the State government, subject to clearance by the Chief Minister. “We have forwarded the proposal, but the Chief Minister has to take a decision as per the business rules,” said a higher
official.
During the recent drought, crops in 13,52,531.70 hectares were damaged and 21,77,819 farmers were identified as affected. As per the proposal, the amount required to provide input subsidy to small and medium farmers is Rs 871.46 crore. The total population affected due to drought as per official figures stands at 1.78 crore across seven districts.
The State government had sought Rs 3,000 crore for drought relief, as per the recommendations of the high-level committee, but the Central government extended only Rs 791 crore for drought. As per the SDRF (State Disaster Relief Fund) norms, only small and medium farmers have been selected whose crop damage is 33 per cent and above, according to the official.
However, farmers who are sowing for khariff season are pessimistic about the input subsidy being provided by the State government. While pointing out that a total of 2,031 mandals were affected due to drought, they questioned the rationality in disbursing less than Rs 1,000 crore, when the requirement is Rs 2,500 crore.
Some others directly questioned the intentions of government, as they believe that the TRS government has been shying away from declaring drought in these mandals. Hence, it may not disburse these funds at all or release them during September or October depending on the rainfall this kharif.
All India Kisan Sabha vice president S Malla Reddy said, “Disbursing of input subsidy means that the government has acknowledged the recent drought, which it does not want to. Even if it disburses input subsidy, most of the farmers may not get it,” he said.
By Md Nizamuddin
