Punjab farmers to get Rs 6,800 per acre for damaged paddy seedlings

Punjab farmers to get Rs 6,800 per acre for damaged paddy seedlings

Chandigarh: The government has decided to compensate all those farmers whose paddy seedlings were damaged in the flashfloods that hit the state in July. The farmers will be given Rs 6,800 per acre for the loss.

Generally, the loss of seedlings does not entail any compensation under the norms of assistance set by the Government of India from the State Disaster Response Fund and the National Disaster Response Fund. “It is for the first time that the Aam Aadmi Party government is giving compensation for the seedlings by declaring this as loss of inputs,” Revenue Minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa told The Tribune.

Because of the flashfloods from July 7-12, the seedlings on almost 6.25 lakh acres of land were submerged and 2.75 lakh acres had to be replanted. Financial Commissioner, Revenue, KAP Sinha said they had taken a clarification from the Centre on the issue and they had been allowed to use the disaster relief funds to compensate farmers for loss of seedlings.

The government had also sought doubling of the compensation to be given to all flood affected from the Disaster Response Fund, when the inter-ministerial Central team had come to Punjab to assess the losses last month. Sources say that this has not been allowed and the state government is giving compensation according to the prescribed norms.

The disbursement of relief has already stated in eight districts — Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Moga, Mohali, Patiala, Pathankot, Ropar and Sangrur, said the Revenue Minister. “As and when the girdawari reports are received by the Deputy Commissioners, the cheques to the affected will be disbursed,” he added.

Information gathered by The Tribune reveals that Rs 103 crore has been disbursed to various districts for the flashfloods in July, whereas Rs 186 crore has been released for the districts affected in August. The special girdawari has not been completed as many villages are still submerged, while silt deposition in many fields is making land demarcation difficult for the revenue staff.