Farmers told to upload crop loss claims by May 1

The state government has asked farmers to upload their crop loss claims on online portals till May 1. The farmers had recently lost wheat crop to a series of fire incidents across the state.

Financial Commissioner Revenue (FCR) Sumita Misra, in a communication to the DCs of Sirsa, Kurukshetra, Fatehabad, Charkhi Dadri, Yamunanagar, Kaithal and Rohtak, directed them to ask farmers to upload their crop loss claims on the e-kshatipurti portal for the government to take a call on providing relief to them. As many as 102 villages in these seven districts have reported extensive damage to crop due to the fires.

Earlier, the Agriculture Department had estimated that standing wheat crop over 814 acres was damaged due to fire incidents, causing losses worth crores to 312 farmers. Short circuits caused by overhead power lines running across fields were reported to be the major cause of the fire incidents.

Though such incidents do not come under the purview of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), which covers damage due to lightning, but not short circuits, the BJP government was inclined to compensate the farmers.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini had already sought reports from the DCs concerned.

A senior government functionary said the government would soon come out with compensation package after verifying the reports uploaded by the farmers through the DCs concerned.

Meanwhile, Sirsa is the reportedly the most-affected district, where 266.28 acres of wheat have been lost, followed by Kaithal (146.3 acres), Fatehabad (83.3 acres) and Kurukshetra (57 acres).

102 villages in 7 districts affected

* DCs told to ask farmers to upload crop loss claims on online portal by May 1

* 102 villages in seven districts reported extensive crop damage due to fires

* Government to announce relief package after verifying online claims