Purushottam Patra, Gariaband. There was drought in the last Kharif season due to less rainfall. Survey of drought affected areas was done in Devbhog, Amlipadar and Mainpur tehsils. Revenue department has prepared a case under RBC 6_4 on the basis of the set criteria and has sent a proposal to the state government for demand of money from relief fund.
According to the prepared case, 3989.52 hectares of 3478 farmers in 70 villages of Devbhog tehsil were affected the most, for which a relief amount of Rs. 3 crore 38 lakh 26075 was given, 2689.197 hectares of 2238 farmers in Amlipar tehsil were affected by drought for Rs. 2 crore 28 lakh 64762 and 227.49 hectares of 249 farmers in Mainpur tehsil were affected by drought. For which a case of relief amount of Rs. 19 lakh 33815 was registered.
Devbhog Tehsildar Chitesh Devangan and Mainpur SDM Pankaj Dahare said that after duly registering the case, a proposal has been sent to the government through the relief branch to demand relief amount. Relief amount will be given as soon as the money arrives in the fund.
356 farmers defaulted, loan amount of Rs 1.56 crore outstanding
2285 farmers including Jhakharpara, Jhiripani committee’s 22 villages and Kosumkani village did not sell paddy at the support price due to their stubborn demand for drought relief and compensation. Out of these, 356 farmers could not pay the loan of 1 crore 56 lakhs and have been placed in the defaulter category. From this year, the interest on the loan taken by the defaulter farmers has also started increasing.
Moneylender loan taken to avoid interest
Tikoram, Jalandhar, Padulochna, a farmer from Kosamkani, who paid off the loan of the cooperative bank despite not selling paddy at the support price, said that he had to take a loan from moneylenders by mortgaging household goods and jewellery to pay off the loan. To avoid interest, most of the farmers of the affected village have paid off their loans by taking insurance money and moneylender loan. They have also had to face a lot of financial difficulties this year.
Jaikishan Nagesh, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, said that as soon as the government was formed, the delegation had met CM Sai, Agriculture Minister and local public representatives and submitted a memorandum demanding the pending relief amount, but they have not received any relief till now.