Farmers object to paperwork conditions on Rs 5,000 drought aid promised before Diwali

Umbraj: The Chief Minister had announced Rs 5,000 in aid, without discrimination, to drought-hit farmers in the state before Diwali. Farmers with small landholdings welcomed the announcement. But conditions requiring several documents, including a crop panchnama, have since emerged, and farmers are deeply angry. They ask what kind of justice it is when the government announces aid on one hand and imposes a complicated paperwork process on the other. They demand that the panchnama and document hassles be dropped and the announced amount be deposited directly into bank accounts without conditions.

Rain failed in many parts of the state this year, dealing a heavy blow to the kharif season. Farmers had borrowed money to spend on seed, fertiliser, pesticides and preparing their fields, but the crop dried up for lack of rain. They have suffered heavy financial losses. The question now is how to repay the loans and run their households.

The Chief Minister and ministers from various departments had visited farm boundaries to assess the crops. After learning of the farmers' distress, the government declared drought in 265 talukas in the first phase and 40 in the second, 305 talukas in all. But farmers and opposition parties are asking on what basis drought declarations were split into phases when farming losses occurred in many areas because of the lack of rain. They are also asking what criteria applied to the first-phase talukas and what criteria were used when 40 more talukas were added a few days later. Farmers feel they have still received no answers on when and how conditions in the remaining talukas will be assessed.

Major festivals such as Dussehra and Diwali are near, and farmers have no source of income left. The announcement of Rs 5,000 before Diwali had brought them some relief. Then the conditions emerged: they must submit a crop panchnama, a copy of the satbara record, photographs of the crop, a consent letter from co-owners, a bank passbook, an Aadhaar card and other documents. Farmers are disappointed.

Where the satbara record of a farm lists several co-owners, getting a consent letter is often difficult. The question being raised is whether a farmer will be denied aid if a co-owner refuses consent. Fears are being expressed that if farmers, already in financial distress from a natural disaster, have to make rounds of government offices to get the aid, its real purpose will be lost.

Farmers say the government already has the details and bank account information of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi schemes. They say eligible beneficiaries can therefore be verified from existing government records and the money sent directly to their accounts. They say that if the government truly wants to help farmers in crisis, it should simplify the process instead of entangling them in document conditions. Some farmers are also asking angrily whether the paperwork is being made harder because of an unwillingness to give the aid.

The drought has thrown farmers' finances into complete disarray. In the festival season, household expenses, children's education, medical costs and loan instalments have become hard to manage. Rs 5,000 may be a small sum, but it can matter to farmers in distress. The demand is therefore growing that the government reconsider the strict conditions on the announced aid and give it to eligible farmers without conditions, or at least on the basis of essential documents only. The demand is that Rs 5,000 be deposited immediately in the accounts of eligible farmers on government records, including beneficiaries of the PM-Kisan and Namo Shetkari schemes. Farmers expect the government to act on time rather than merely raise hopes with an announcement, and to keep its word.