The State government on Monday released an amount of Rs.15.81 crore for paying input subsidy to farmers whose agriculture and horticulture crops were damaged due to heavy rains or hailstorms in 10 districts between March 16 and 21, 2024.

In its order, the State government said it was providing one-time relief to 10 districts as farmers suffered crop damage and accordingly released the amount from the State Disaster Response Fund.

The government gave these orders after Agriculture and Cooperation department has informed that agriculture and horticulture crops were damaged in 10 districts due to heavy rains or hailstorms and requested to release an amount of Rs.15.81 crore as a one-time measure, a relief of Rs. 10,000 per acre will be provided to farmers who suffered the loss.

The 10 districts include – Kamareddy, Nizamabad, Rajanna Sircilla, Siddipet, Medak, Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, Karimnagar and Sangareddy. Of these districts, Kamareddy was most affected. As many as 10,328 acres covering 9,107 farmers were affected in Kamareddy due to unseasonal rains.

Since Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force in view of Lok Sabha elections, required permission has been taken from Election Commission of India (ECI). The payment of input subsidy will be done directly to the bank accounts of farmers which should be Aadhar linked as far as possible.

Payments shall be made within a period of 90 days from the date of release of funds. Every farmer will be entitled for input subsidy for only one disaster for the same agricultural season. The District Collectors should ensure that the disbursement shall be made only under strict supervision so that only genuine beneficiaries get the input subsidy, according to Secretary to Government, Rahul Bojja.

Source - https://www.deccanchronicle.com