State to roll out DBT for fertiliser from January

The State Government is all set to roll out direct benefit transfer (DBT) for fertiliser subsidy from January 1.
State to roll out DBT for fertiliser from January

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government is all set to roll out direct benefit transfer (DBT) for fertiliser subsidy from January 1. However, the DBT in case of fertiliser subsidy will be slightly different for LPG.
“The Centre has modified the DBT model for fertilisers so that there is no extra burden on the farmers. Farmers will get chemical fertilisers at a subsidised rate and the subsidy will be paid to the manufacturing companies for the first two years,” sources in the Agriculture Department said.In case of DBT for cooking gas, customers buy the gas cylinder at market price and the government transfer the subsidy amount to the bank account of the beneficiaries.

As a majority of the farmers are not in a position to make upfront payments for fertilsers, the Centre has decided to supply soil nutrients at subsidised price. The transaction details will be recorded on the Point of Sale (PoS) machines supplied to retailers,the sources said. The state government’s experience from sale of certified seeds through DBT platform is not very encouraging as farmers are required to pay upfront the cost of the seeds. 

Meanwhile, the Agriculture department has identified 11,680 retailers for sale of fertilisers and 6,187 of them have been supplied with PoS devices. The identity of the beneficiaries will be verified through Aadhaar based biometric authentication. The buyers details will be captured in the PoS device deployed at the retailers end.

All the transaction details and the fertilisers stocks at the dealers and retailers points will  be tracked online in the Integrated Fertiliser Management System (IFMS).

This will bring in transparency as actual sale will be linked to subsidy payment. This will stop diversion of fertilisers to industries and the government will save huge amount towards subsidy. The Centre is providing subsidy to the tune of `70,000 crore annually towards fertilisers.

Meanwhile, the Cooperation Department has taken steps for sale of fertilisers through Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) and Large Area Multipurpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS).The department has so far installed 913 PoS devices at selective societies.

The Odisha State Cooperative Marketing Federation (Markfed) has been provided a corpus of `100 crore by the state government for supply  of fertilisers to farmers at subsidised rates. As many as 18 States have already implemented DBT schemes. Odisha is one among the 12 remaining states which will move to DBT platform from January next year.

Relief for farmers
Farmers will get chemical fertilisers at a subsidised rate and the subsidy will be paid to manufacturing companies for the first two years.
The agriculture department has identified 11,680 retailers for sale of fertilisers. 6,187 of them have been supplied with PoS devices.
The identity of beneficiaries will be verified through Aadhaar based biometric authentication.
Markfed has been provided a corpus of J100 crore by State Govt for supply  of fertilisers to farmers at subsidised rates.

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