Government schemes have not reached us: Chimbel farmers

CHIMBEL: Farmers in the village of Chimbel, which comes under the North Goa parliamentary constituency, are agitated and lament that the benefits of government schemes meant for the community have not reached them till date. However, they said that they have not yet lost hope.

“We heard about many things from many community members but we noticed that they were only rumours and there was no truth in it about the central government providing money to farmers. It seems that the small state of Goa does not figure in the geographical map of India,” said many farmers.

A female farmer returning home after working in fields said that she has not received even a rupee through any scheme. “We slog in the fields for our survival,” she said. Another farmer said that he had filled a form for availing subsidy but claimed that he has not received a single rupee till date. “Instead, people from the agriculture department did come for a survey and took rice from me on three occasions but failed to fulfil the promise of subsidy,” he said.

In the past, Shirem, Gaon, Gaule Bhat and Zor areas in the village were famous for cash crops and paddy cultivation but now huge tracts of land have been damaged and destroyed due to the release of sewage water. Out of frustration, farmers have even sold land and slowly a concrete jungle is taking shape along the roadsides in the village. Villagers in the past produced sweet potatoes, vegetables, cluster beans, beans, raddish, cucumber, sweet gourd, bitter gourd, bottle gourd and brinjal and sold them in Panaji and Mapusa markets. These vegetables are still being produced in the village but on a smaller scale.

While holding the village sarpanch responsible for not creating awareness among the farmers regarding the various government schemes meant for them, the community blamed the government for not honouring their demands of a village market, police station, playground, hospital, community hall and land for farmers. “Instead, the government has acquired the existing land from villagers for IT project,” they said. The villagers fear that once the IT project starts, they may lose the Chimbel lake.

The villagers complained that the government had taken Rs 2,000 and Rs 10,000 from the villagers in February and March on the pretext of providing them toilets but they claimed that nothing seems to be moving in that direction.