Nearly 2,000 villagers of Farrukhnagar, who were given compensation cheques by the state government after their crops were damaged by unseasonal rain and hailstorm, have not been able to claim the money. The reason: The cheques, which were issued a month ago, have bounced.Villagers said they deposited the cheques in the State Bank of Patiala branch in the tehsil, but these bounced because there was insufficient funds in the tehsildar’s account. The villagers had to pay Rs 253 as penalty for each cheque that bounced.A government official said the state government transfers grants to the deputy commissioner of the district, which is then given to the tehsildar. V S Meena, the manager of State Bank of Patiala, said cheques were cleared in two instalments after which the bank has not been getting funds.“We received Rs 15 crore in May and then the second instalment. After the tehsildar sent a request to the SDM of Pataudi, Rs 3.3 crore more was given. After that, the funds stopped,” Meena said. “Cheque denominations ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1.8 lakh have bounced.”

According to Gurgaon district officials, the problem was that of execution. “We received a few complaints last week. After looking into them, we realised that the fault was in the transfer of funds to the block office. We keep grants in one bank, from where it is released slowly, as and when the demand comes. I agree that our transfer mechanism could have been better,” T L Satya Prakash, Deputy Commissioner (Gurgaon district), said. “By July 8, the Farrukhnagar block office will get the money,” he said.

However, the bank has cautioned the farmers and asked them to come with the cheques only after July 20.

Sources said a total of Rs 43 crore was sanctioned by the state government to Pataudi block, of which Farrukhnagar is a part. “Nearly 40,000 cheque leaves were issued by the State Bank of Patiala on May 15, in bulk and free of cost for aggrieved farmers,” an official said.

The farmers have no option but to wait. “I am yet to get over the losses I suffered. The last hope to get everything back on track was this compensation money. Monsoon is expected anytime and I still haven’t bought seeds and manure for the farms as I was depending on the compensation money. Government officials should have informed us about the problem or issued the cheques when they had money,” Ajit Ram Avatar (40) said. He owns four acres of land in Basunda village in Farrukhnagar and got a cheque of Rs 47,850 for crop damage.

Dhani Ram (61) of the same village too is waiting for the cheque, which he said he will disburse among farmers who earn their livelihood tilling his six acres of land.

“Around 300 people from my village got the cheques, but only about eight per cent of them have been able to claim the money. We will wait till the tehsildar gives us further instructions,” Madhubala, the sarpanch of Basunda village, said.

Farmers from other villages too have met the same fate. Surinder Yadav (42) of Kheda Khurampur village said that over 40 cheques had bounced in their village. Some were yet to receive the cheques, he said. “Last Wednesday, we were told not to deposit the cheques. Also, some of us have been waiting for the cheques,” Yadav said.

“In Farrukhnagar, we grow onions, wheat or marigold. However, this year we were unable to harvest anything. We spent Rs 50,000 on one acre of land, but could not even get Rs 20,000 back,” Yadav said.

Villagers said many ‘patwaris’ (revenue officers) did not even physically inspect the fields to assess crop damage. “The compensation was to be fixed after a physical inspection of damage to crops by government officials. However, barring once or twice, the revenue officer never visited our village. The cheques were issued overnight, in haste and bulk,” a villager alleged.

Source -http://indianexpress.com/