The state government’s decision to pay input subsidy to farmers through online, with a view to curb benamis and corruption, seems to have paid off.
According to agricultural officials, about Rs 15-18 crore would be salvaged out of Rs 106.99 crore released recently towards input subsidy for farmers who incurred losses in Medak district.
The state government sanctioned Rs 106.99 crore towards input subsidy for 4,18,548 farmers in 1,192 villages of Medak district.
However, the list of the ryots who incurred losses reportedly consisted of benamis and the government’s measures are expected to save Rs 15-18 crore from being spent on the latter.
It may be mentioned here that the government has directed the officials to collect the bank account details of each ryot so the input subsidy amount is deposited online rather than distributing it through cheques.
The decision to this effect has been taken after it faced criticism on several occasions with regard to the input subsidy being swindled by agricultural officials and adarsha farmers.
As per the directions of the government, the agricultural officials have been depositing the input subsidy in the bank accounts of the farmers through online system since May and succeeded in keeping a check on benamis from laying their hands on the amount. However, the amount is not being disbursed on time unlike earlier when the officials and adarsha farmers used to pay the subsidy by cheques in 2-3 months.