News

Chhattisgarh to pay ₹10,000 to paddy farmers

Poornima Joshi New Delhi | Updated on May 19, 2020 Published on May 19, 2020

The scheme will be extended to sugarcane and maize farmers this year, said Bhupesh Singh Bhagel   -  R_V_Moorthy

Over 19 lakh farmers will benefit under Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojna to be launched by CM Bhupesh Bhagel tomorrow

The Congress’s revamping of the UPA-style welfarism has begun in Chhattisgarh with the tribal State beginning a direct benefit scheme of ₹10,000 per acre to 19 lakh farmers from May 21.

Talking to BusinessLine from Raipur, Chief Minister Bhupesh Singh Bhagel said the scheme is aimed to provide adequate price to the farmers for their crops.

To support more crops

“We’re starting with paddy growers but the scheme will be extended to sugarcane and maize farmers this year. Everyone who registers with the State Government will be a beneficiary,” said Bhagel.

The Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana will be launched by Baghel from May 21 by handing over the first instalment under the ₹5,700-crore scheme to 19 lakh beneficiaries. The money will be disbursed in four instalments. The payment of ₹10,000 per acre of paddy is over and above the MSP for the crop.

“The Nyay scheme that Congress had promised to implement in its manifesto was aimed at ensuring minimum income for the poor through direct bank transfer. Soon after the formation of the Government in Chhattisgarh, work was started regarding the economic strengthening of farmers, tribals and labourers. Now, Under the State government’s Rajiv Gandhi’s Kisan Nyay Yojana, starting from May 21 on the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the exchange of funds for paddy, maize and sugarcane (rabi) crops will be transferred to the farmers’ account on the basis of the area registered and acquired in kharif 2019,” said Bhagel.

According to a senior official in the State government, although 19 lakh farmers have so far registered, the benefits are expected to reach over 20 lakh farmers.

For this, a provision of ₹5,100 crore has been made in the budget. The balance will be arranged. Earlier, the State Government had waived loan amounting to ₹8,800 crore for about 18 lakh farmers. Apart from this, steps like compensation of four times the value of agricultural land acquisition, irrigation tax forgiveness have also been taken,” said the official.

Job generation

During the lockdown period, the Chhattisgarh government generated employment under the Mahatma Gandhi Employment Guarantee Scheme that directly benefitted 23 lakh villagers while for people depending on forest produce, collection of 16.71 lakh standard sacks of tendu leaves with which about 12.53 lakh collectors will be benefited was fixed in the forest areas of the State.

Chhattisgarh accounts for 98 per cent of the total forest produce across India.

In the current season, the government has committed to pay ₹649 crore to people dependent on forest produce. The State government is giving an additional incentive of ₹13 per kg for the fixed support price of Mahua flower at ₹17 per kg. Similarly, in addition to the support price in the purchase of Kusumi lac, Rangeeni lac and Kullu gum, additional incentive is being given by the State government.

About 44 per cent area of Chhattisgarh is covered by forest, 31 per cent of the population belongs to tribal community. Forest produce is the major source of income for millions of families in the State.

To increase the income of the tribals, the government has ensured the middle-market free system and purchase of forest produce at the right price. Tendu leaf collection rate increased to ₹4,000 per standard bag. Also, the number of forest produce purchased at support price has been increased to 25 from 7.

Published on May 19, 2020

A letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.

Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.

In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.

We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.

But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.

I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.

A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!

Support Quality Journalism
Chhattisgarh
  1. Comments will be moderated by The Hindu Business Line editorial team.
  2. Comments that are abusive, personal, incendiary or irrelevant cannot be published.
  3. Please write complete sentences. Do not type comments in all capital letters, or in all lower case letters, or using abbreviated text. (example: u cannot substitute for you, d is not 'the', n is not 'and').
  4. We may remove hyperlinks within comments.
  5. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name, to avoid rejection.
Covid Effect: Karnataka pitches for US investments, offers conducive atmosphere for companies
You have read 1 out of 3 free articles for this week. For full access, please subscribe and get unlimited access to all sections.