Crop loss: State may give Rs10,000 an acre

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 19

Under attack from various quarters, the Punjab government is now considering revising and enhancing the compensation to be paid to farmers, who have suffered losses due to crop damage and bring it on a par with neighbouring Haryana.

The state is considering the relief from the present Rs5,000 per acre to Rs10,000 per acre after the Centre increased its share from Rs3,600 per acre to Rs5,400 per acre.

A meeting in this regard is expected to be held here tomorrow where Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal will take a final decision.

Official sources said initially the Centre would contribute Rs3,600 per acre only in case the crop damage because of inclement weather was over 50 per cent. The state on its own would add Rs1,400 per acre in this assistance and pay Rs5,000 per acre to the distressed farmers.

This year, because of unseasonal rainfall in most parts of the country in March this year, the Centre has not just relaxed the conditions and decided to pay the compensation in case the damage is over 33 per cent, but also increased central assistance to Rs5,400 per acre. The money that the Centre releases to the state is under the State Disaster Response Fund.

The problem before the state now is that if it continues to add what it was adding previously (Rs1,400 per acre), it will be paying the farmer Rs6,800 per acre, which is less than what Haryana is paying (Rs10,000 per acre).

Farmers in the state have suffered crop damage over 1.02 lakh acres, as per a special girdawari report of the Revenue Department. The Finance Department was asked to examine how the state government could add Rs5,600 in the Rs5,400 central assistance to ensure that farmers get compensation on a par with Haryana farmers.

The Finance Department has reportedly written to the government saying that it did not have funds at its disposal and instead asked the government to ask the Punjab Mandi Board to foot this bill. A final call on the matter is expected to be taken on Monday.