Identification of farmers for KALIA begins

ROURKELA: Sundargarh district administration has geared up its machineries to identify farmers under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme with a target to prepare the list of beneficiaries by January 10 for the first phase.

The office of Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA) has exhibited the list of small and marginal farmers at 10 locations of each of the 279 gram panchayats (GPs) in the district.  

Sundargarh DDA R N Satpathy said the inclusion and exclusion of names of farmers have started from Wednesday and would continue till January 10 in the first phase. Small and marginal farmers would be given input assistance of `5,000 for rabi  season and the amount would be transferred through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) by next week. A list of about 1.6 lakh farmers has been exhibited and after scrutiny, the final list of beneficiaries would be notified, he added.

The agriculture official said at the GP level, red forms with boxes have been provided for exclusion of names from the list of small and marginal farmers with voluntary declaration or through complaints by others. Similarly, green forms and boxes are available for inclusion of names of left out farmers, he added.
Satpathy said government employees, retired persons of government wings or PSUs, income tax assessees and farmers with big land holding would not be eligible.

The DDA further said landless farmers would be provided financial assistance of `12,500 for livestock raising as means of livelihood. The officials concerned are busy preparing a faultless list of final beneficiaries at the GP, block and district levels.

Sundargarh Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies Jerome Ekka said the list of farmers exhibited by the DDA has been made available to his office. Red forms with voluntary declaration for self-withdrawal of names or complaints received from the GPs would be scrutinised with the database of farmers of 44 Large and Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS), he added.

However, it remains a challenge to prepare a faultless list of small and marginal farmers in a short span of time in the vast Sundargarh district with no authentic data of farming families. While 37,000 farmers are registered for paddy procurement, the agriculture office claims to have registered about 70,000 farmers for DBT for supply of farm implements, pesticide and fertiliser. 

Modalities

A list of 1.6 lakh farmers has been exhibited for correction
Red forms with boxes have been provided for exclusion of names
Green forms with boxes available for inclusion of names of left out farmers
Farmers would be given input assistance of `5,000 for rabi season
Landless farmers to get financial assistance of `12,500 for livestock raising

Procurement limit delays paddy sale

Jeypore: Procurement limit of 3,000 quintal paddy per day at each purchasing centre in Koraput district has evoked widespread resentment among the farmers. They alleged that thousands of quintal of paddy bags are lying unsold in the district due to the procurement limit. The district administration had opened 108 mandis in Jeypore and Koraput sub-divisions last month and fixed paddy purchasing ceiling limit of 100 quintal per farmer with 3,000 quintal paddy per mandi per day, sources said. So far, about three lakh quintal of paddy have been procured. Farmers said over 10 lakh quintal of paddy are lying unsold at different villages in Jeypore, Kotpad, Borrigumma, Kundra and Boipariguda. While the farmers have been eagerly waiting for their turn to sale their produce, slow procurement has affected the process badly. At a time when rabi crop season is nearing, the delay has affected farmers as they required urgent fund to start cultivation. In the past, the administration used to procure 10,000 quintal of paddy per day from each mandi to speed up the procurement.