In a big blow to the farmers of Himachal Pradesh, government has asked thousands of people who got Kisan Samman Nidhi wrongly to return money though notices. Farmers’ organisations of Himachal said that the farmers and growers have been insulted and this is humiliation.
As per the standards of the Central government, over 12,000 farmers applied for the scheme and got benefits despite not fulfilling the eligibility conditions. The government has prepared a list of such farmers/growers and is planning to serve notices to withdraw the given money from those farmers who do not fulfil the eligibility criteria, there were about 13,000 such farmers in Himachal.
This scheme is included in the ambitious flagship program of PM Modi. As per the information, there were few more states in the list, where such issues have become the concerns of the authorities. Farmers’ organisations termed this move disrespect and insult instead of respecting the farmers of Himachal.
Most of the farmers claim that as per the government conditions, the applications were made fulfilling the conditions of the scheme and documents were sent to the government only after thorough verification by the government agencies. Farmers’ organisations said, if there was any flaw in this, then the onus is on those government officers. A farmer is only a farmer and on that basis, everyone applied for it, what qualifications were to be a farmer we all had kept in mind. But it is not proper to blame the farmers.
The government’s step will prove to be disappointing to the farmers and this move is arbitrary. The government is acting against the farmers only due to the fault or inefficiency of the government officials. However, the revenue department of the state government has swung into action and is in the process of taking back the amount of the Samman Nidhi from such people. In December 2020, the list of more than 11,000 such farmers and growers was prepared.
In Himachal Pradesh, the revenue department of the state government has issued recovery notices through tehsildars to thousands of people who got the scheme by flaunting the criteria. Orders have been issued to return the wrongly taken instalments of the scheme within 15 days to these ineligible farmers. The revenue department of the state government is in action mode after repeated instructions were issued in this regard from the central government.
Farmers’ organisations allege that the government is making farmers pawns to hide their failures and mistakes. How can there be a different definition of a farmer, a farmer is only a farmer, how does paying tax or having any other source of income restrict or disqualify someone from being a farmer, progressive grower, said Yograj Thakur.
This should have been seen first by the officials who prepared the documents under this process and sent them to the government. The government will have to bear the brunt of this. Instead of transferring cash in this way, the government should donate equipment, fertilisers, seeds, and medicines through the Horticulture and Agriculture department that will benefit the farmers, said Sanjay Chauhan Bagwan Kotkhai.