‘Not more than 22% financial aid disbursed to flood-hit farmers’

Yavatmal: Activists of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and Sethkari Sanghatana have alleged that the flood-hit farmers have not received financial assitance sanctioned by the state government due to apathy of officials. The amount has not been remitted to the bank accounts of the farmers, they said.
Shethkari Sanghatana’s state committee member Vijay Nival told TOI on Monday that though the entire district was badly affected by the heavy rains, only 46 % farmers were shortlisted for the assistance.
Farmers having land holding up to 3 hectares are eligible for the aid and the maximum amount given to each farmer is Rs40,800 (Rs13,600 per hectare). “In Yavatmal, most of the farmers are having less land than the upper limit fixed by the government,” he said.
District collector Amol Yedge said the government has sanctioned Rs632 crore against crop damages and other losses suffered by farmers. He said that Rs333 crore, about 53%, has already been transferred to the bank accounts. The entire amount would be transferred before Diwali,” he said.
Countering the collector’s claims, Nival said the actual amount distributed till date is not more than 20-22%. “The gram sevaks are on strike, hence the distribution is adversely affected. Patwaris and agriculture assistants are distributing the amount. At this pace, farmers won’t get their amount before Diwali,” he said.
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana district president Manish Jadhav said the amount should have credited by Dussehra. “Now, farmers are staring at a dark Diwali,” he told TOI on Monday. He warned of launching a mass agitation if the administration fails to transfer the amount by Diwali.
The collector said 229 farmers have committed suicide in the district so far. “We are processing the cases to provide ex gratia to the next of kin,” he said. The tribal dominated Ralegaon tehsil alone has recorded 26 farmers’ suicide during the last nine months. At Maregaon, 2-3 farmers are committing suicide daily, said sources.
According to Sujit Challawar, secretary of Ralegaon APMC, cotton procurement centres which become operational by Dussehra will start only after Diwali “as there is no chance of the farm produce reaching the APMC before that”.
Even farm labourers are jobless. “Harvesting has not started yet,” says a labourer Mahadev Mohate
Businessmen in the district too are worried as the market is sluggish as compared to previous years, said sources.