BHUBANESWAR: With a huge debate raging over the eligibility of sharecroppers for crop-loss compensation following the pest attack and farmer suicides in the Odisha, the state government on Thursday announced that actual cultivators would be paid the agriculture input subsidy.
The special relief commissioner (SRC) of the state Bishnupada Sethi issued a set of modalities to all the Collectors stating that the actual cultivators would include share-croppers and lessees.
Referring to the detailed guidelines which the state government had circulated in 2015 for assessment of crop-loss due to natural disasters, the SRC office said, it will be scrupulously followed for disbursement of agriculture input subsidy for crop-loss caused by the pest attack. The assessment of crop-loss would be based on eye estimation.
Earlier, the government had directed constitution of a village level committee to finalise the list of affected farmers prepared by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department.
However, this time around, the committee would be reconstituted and include three members from the share-croppers category, Sethi's letter said.
Share-croppers and lessees working on deity land will also be considered actual cultivators and eligible for compensation. Privileged rayats like widow and differentially-abled will also be covered under the scheme.
Similarly, those cultivating land for which title has been issued under Forest Rights Act would be eligible for compensation too. All payments would be made through e-transfer to the bank and postal accounts of the beneficiaries.
However, government land under encroachment and unauthorised cultivation would not be taken into account.
Since a large chunk of farmers who have suffered crop-loss are share-croppers, the Government was under pressure to make its stand clear because there is hardly any mechanism in place to enumerate them.
In fact, the issue had courted controversy after Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout had gone on record saying that those torching their crops may not get compensation because loss estimation will not be possible. Besides, many of them are share-croppers too.
However, Cooperation Minister SN Patro took a different stand saying there is a provision in the relief code for compensating the share-croppers.
The state government had on Monday announced a compensation package for the pest attack affected farmers. Under the scheme, those in rain-fed and non-irrigated areas would get input subsidy of Rs 6,800 per hectare whereas those under assured irrigation will be eligible for Rs 13,500.