BHUBANESWAR: The State government released the seed production incentive of over Rs 9 crore to the Odisha State Seeds Corporation (OSSC) on Thursday for distribution among the registered seed growing farmers. Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Minister Arun Sahoo had promised a farmers delegation on Monday that their incentive will be released within two days.
The corporation has started transferring the incentive to beneficiaries’ accounts via RTGS (real-time gross settlement) system as the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) managed by the Controller General of Accounts, Ministry of Finance did not respond to the State government request for direct benefit transfer after the closure of the last financial year.
A senior officer of the corporation told this paper that the registered farmers who have supplied certified seeds to the corporation in 2021-22 will get their benefits within a couple of days. Sources attributed the delay in disbursement to staff mobilisation for field verification of seed stocks in different districts.
Besides, Saturday and Sunday were government holidays.More than 2,000 farmers will benefit from the Central assistance which is provided to states under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY). The Centre is providing a production incentive of Rs 2,000 per quintal of paddy seeds (Rs 20 per kg) which is shared between the farmers and corporation at the ratio of 75:25. The OSSC will earn about Rs 2.25 crore from the incentive.
The State government woke up to the farmers plight after publication of a report in The New Indian Express about possible lapse of the Central assistance due to the negligence of officials of the Agriculture department.