More than 5,700 farmers have sought compensation from the state government and the insurance company for their crop losses due to the hailstorm, coupled with torrential rain and high-velocity, winds on March 29.

Govt should bail out Agriculturalists

The farmers are now looking towards the state government to bail them out of this crisis, hence the government should compensate them at the earliest by ensuring completion of the survey for verifying the losses. — Inderjit Singh, Vice-president, All India Kisan Sabha

Among them, 1,500 are such farmers who are enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana (PMFBY). They will be compensated by the insurance company after verifyingtheir actual losses, while 4,200 farmers having no insurance cover will be given monetary relief by the state government. They have reported their losses on the e-Kshatipurti portal.

Shri Niwas, Tehsildar, Rewari, said over 3,000 farmers had registered themselves on the portal in the Rewari block to get compensation for their losses, while Karan, Naib Tehsildar, Dharuhera, said the count of such farmers was over 1,200 in the Dharuhera block.

Sources said the Dharuhera and Rewari blocks of the district were the worst affected by the natural calamity. Khatauli, Rajpura, Aakera, Gujjar Ghatal, Kapriwas, Joniawas, Maalpura, Dhakiya, Malhera, Ramgarh, Bhagwanpur, Masani and Kharkara were among the villages where extensive crop loss was reported.

A preliminary survey conducted by the local office of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department had assessed tentative losses to wheat and mustard crops , spread over 7,500 acres in 72 villages of the district, while the farmers claimed the losses were manifold of the official figure. Inderjit Singh, vice-president, All India Kisan Sabha, said the farmers had been passing through a tough phase of their lives as the natural calamity had wreaked havoc to their standing crops in a short span.

“The farmers are now looking towards the state government to bail them out of this crisis, hence the government should compensate them at the earliest by ensuring completion of the survey for verifying the losses,” he added.

Ashok Musepur, district vice-president, BKU, said the authorities had not yet initiated the special girdawari for verifying the losses. “We have submitted the memorandum twice to the district authorities in this regard, but to no avail. The farmers are in a state of distress following extensive losses to their crops due to the hailstorm,” he added.

Deepak Kumar, SDO (Agriculture), Rewari, said a joint survey would be conducted by local officials of the Agriculture Department and insurance company for verifying the actual crop losses reported by the affected farmers having the insurance cover. “To complete the process, the officials will visit the fields to assess the losses,” he added. Dr Jitender Ahlawat, Deputy Director (Agriculture), Rewari, said a survey for verifying the crop losses reported on the e-Kshatipurti portal was carried out by the revenue officials.

Source - https://www.tribuneindia.com