KOTTAYAM: Amid farmers’ complaints of excessive delay in completing the documentation for subsidy under the Rubber Price Incentive Scheme (RPIS), operations of the website to apply for the scheme has been suspended temporarily. The Rubber Board has instructed rubber producers’ societies (RPSs) to stop uploading sales bills of sheet rubber and latex on the website until further notice.
Operations of the website (ebt.kerala.gov.in) have been suspended at the peak of the season leaving farmers in dire straits. Launched in 2015, RPIS is implemented from July to next June. However, this year, the website opened for uploading bills in October, three months behind schedule. On December 6, RPSs office-bearers received a message that the website had been temporarily suspended due to technical issues.
There are reports that National Informatics Centre (NIC), the Union government body authorised to manage the website, suspended its operations due to unpaid dues from the state government.
“The agreement between NIC and the state government expired in November. Despite NIC’s letter to the government requesting payment of dues and issuance of a new contract, there has been no response. Consequently, they stopped the service, and now the website is also down,” said a Rubber Board official, on the condition of anonymity.
Concerned by this, farmers have demanded the government to take immediate action to resolve the crisis in the price stabilisation scheme. The scheme had brought some relief to farmers suffering from low rubber prices.“As the season began, it became the peak time for farmers to submit bills. It is crucial the issue is resolved promptly,” said Babu Joseph, general secretary of National Consortium of Rubber Producers’ Societies (NCRPS).
Previously, farmers had raised concerns over the delay in uploading the bills, which was attributed to a shortage of staff in the board’s field offices. The delay led to over one lakh bills pending at the RPSs. Under RPIS, the government provides farmers the difference between `170 and the price published by the Rubber Board for 1kg of sheet rubber and latex as subsidy. The subsidy amount is credited to the bank accounts of growers through the board.
To claim subsidy, farmers must submit bills from rubber dealers to RPSs in their respective areas. Once verified by the board’s field officers, RPSs upload the bills to the state government’s website.During the previous scheme period, the board forwarded 8.17 lakh bills to the state government. This year, only 32,063 bills have been cleared so far, indicating a huge backlog.On one hand, delays in completing procedural formalities hinder the scheme. On the other, the government has failed to release subsidies to farmers on time due to financial constraints.
