Farmers in eight districts are owed a little over Rs 93 crore for paddy procured this year from them by the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco), Food and Civil Supplies Minister Anoop Jacob informed the Assembly on Monday.
Farmers in the Kuttanad region spread over Alappuzha and Kottayam districts are owed the largest sum; Rs 46.58 crore and Rs 23.54 crore respectively. Farmers in Palakkad are owed Rs 22.65 crore, Malappuram (Rs 3.51 lakh), Ernakulam (Rs 12.76 lakh), Idukki (Rs 2.55 crore) and Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 1.78 lakh). In Alappuzha district, the government owes the farmers for paddy procured up to October 20, in Kottayam, up to November 6 and in Palakkad, up to October 31, the Food Minister said.
He said there was no delay in settling the arrears for the first harvest of 2012-2013. Earlier, the government had disbursed `123 crore through bank accounts of the farmers as part of settling arrears for the first season, he said.
In all, 34 projects were granted exemption from the purview of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act by this government, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash told the House. Of these, 14 projects are planned in Ernakulam district, eight in Alappuzha and six in Pathanamthitta.
The govt intends to dispose of 75 per cent of the files pending in various govt offices across the state by March 31, 2013, CM Oommen Chandy said. “At least 15 per cent of files are delayed due to legal and technical reasons,’’ he said.