BENGALURU: The state government on Tuesday began distribution of input subsidy for farmers who lost their kharif crops and were eligible for compensation. According to the statistics provided by the Revenue Department, about 9.68 lakh farmers across the state will receive compensation of varying amounts through Direct Benefit Transfer. So far, the Union Government has released `450 crore as part of the `1,682.40 crore that has been approved as relief payment for loss of kharif crop due to drought.
The state government has added `221 crore to this amount and is distributing the amount.
Farmers who have suffered losses of more than 33 per cent are eligible to receive this compensation.
According to the amounts fixed by the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) guidelines, amounts to be paid are `6,800 per hectare of rain-fed land; `13,500 per hectare of irrigated land and `18,000 per hectare of all season crop land with a maximum of two hectares.
The Revenue Department, which has created a data bank of 40 lakh farmers, has linked Aadhaar numbers of the farmers with their bank accounts. Since the accounts have been verified already with Bhoomi records, the Department hopes to save time, by not having to verify the details again.
Chitradurga has 67,352 farmers who are eligible for compensation, which is the highest in the state.
The state had declared 139 taluks out of 176 as drought hit after scanty monsoons last year.