Rs 10 relief has Sirsa farmers on warpath

HISAR: Hail-hit farmers of Sirsa, who had paid heavy crop insurance premiums, were dealt a shocker when they got a princely sum of Rs 10 per acre as compensation for crop damage during the 2017-18 rabi season.

The outraged farmers held a protest at the mini secretariat on Saturday and insisted on returning the “relief” to the DC. They also warned of escalation of their stir if the issue was not sorted out. Sirsa executive city magistrate Kulbhushan Bansal assured them that the problem would be resolved soon.

Farmers Nabbh Singh and Hoshiar Singh said they had received text messages a week back about Rs 10 being deposited in their bank accounts. Bank officials told them that it was relief for crop damage .

Prahlad Singh Bharukhera, state president of Haryana Kisan Manch, said that hail had destroyed the wheat crop in many villages in 2017. Prior to this, ICICI Lombard Insurance Company had sold crop insurance to Sirsa farmers and taken a premium of Rs 2,049 per hectare from them. Out of the total compensation amount, Rs 997 was deducted from the farmer’s account and the remainder by the government.

The Haryana Kisan Manch chief said that according to the term and conditions, no compensation was to be given for losses below 25% while a compensation of Rs 66,500 per hectare was to be granted for 100% damage. The fact that the insurance company awarded a compensation in this case shows that the crop loss was over 25%, for which the relief amount should have been at least Rs 6,650 per acre, and not Rs 10 per acre.