The paddy harvest is over. And it’s threshing time. This is when farmers dust their tarpaulin sheets and spread them out on the ground to place the harvest and start the process of loosening the grain from the stem.

Most of the farmers in Peth village, Dahanu district, Maharashtra, where I have a farm, had worn-out tarpaulins, bought four years ago. So, at a village meeting, it was decided to procure fresh ones from the taluka headquarters. We knew there was also a government subsidy available on tarpaulins.

We promptly reached the panchayat samiti office in Dahanu, 30 km from Peth. The agriculture officer was friendly and told us that though there was still 50 per cent subsidy on tarpaulins, the procedure for allocation had changed.

Hitherto, a copy of the land extract document (7/12), which showed proof of ownership, was enough to be eligible for subsidised farm equipment. One just had to pay and sign in a register.

However, this year things had changed — there was a form to fill and several documents to be submitted. We were directed to a nearby stationery shop where the form could be purchased.

Ration card, Aadhaar et al

The girl at the counter explained the procedure and pointed to the list of documents that needed to be attached. These included the land extract (7/12) document, the land holding summary (Form 8), ration card, Aadhaar card, copy of the bank passbook, a certificate from the gram panchayat that the farmer had a toilet and a certificate from the gram panchayat that it had no objection to giving the villager subsidy.

Back at the panchayat samiti office, the officer pointed to a notice placed under the glass top of her table that listed other mandatory requirements. Apparently, once the documents are in order, one had to get a quotation for the required equipment (in this case tarpaulin) from a local dealer on his letterhead.

If all the technical specifications matched the ones approved by the government, the farmer had to buy the product from the shop, paying the full amount. However, this had to be done by electronic transfer by the farmer to the dealer, using RTGS, IMPS or by cheque. After hearing this elaborate procedure, one of the villagers remarked, “If I had the money to pay for the tarpaulin, why would I ask for subsidy?”

But the ‘ease’ of availing subsidies, we learnt to our chagrin, did not end there. Once the farmer buys tarpaulin, the dealer must furnish him/her a GST invoice which has to be presented along with the form and all the documents to claim the subsidy from the government. If all paper work is in order, the subsidy amount will be transferred to the beneficiary’s bank account in three to four months’ time. The assistant in the office confided to me, “You won’t get it till March next year.”

On hearing this long-drawn out procedure, Prakash K, a farmer, wryly offered this cryptic comment: “It will cost us ₹500 to get all the documents.” He was right.

The tarpaulin sheet — 6 metres by 6 metres — costs ₹2,000. With a 50 per cent subsidy, it would cost ₹1,000. But money, effort and time would have to be expended getting the documentation in order. It would involve multiple trips to the talati’s (revenue official) and the gram panchayat office, besides the mandatory “tip” that would have to be paid to get hold of the documents.

Also, for the villagers, RTGS and IMPS was unfamiliar territory. I explained that this was a digital means of transferring money from one bank to another. At this, one farmer whipped out his ATM card and declared triumphantly, “Ï have this, and so it will be easy for me.”

I explained to him that the card would not help, and that he would have to get an internet banking ID and then register the seller before he can make the payment. He nodded wisely, though the blank look on his face told me that he had not understood a word of what I had said.

As for a cheque book, none of the villagers had one. The minimum balance to be maintained to avail a cheque book facility was too much for them.

While a few stayed back to fill the form, some of us proceeded to the market to get a quotation for the tarpaulin. Most of the shops in Dahanu had stock but none of it matched the specification set by the government. The thickness of the material used was of a lower grade than the one mandated by the panchayat samiti . We returned to the pancahayat office to ask if a lower specification would work, only to be told that the application for subsidy would be rejected.

The Maharashtra government, one is told, is trying its best to ensure the success of many of its programmes for farmers and the rural poor. If our experience was anything to go by, the state machinery is still tangled in complex procedural hurdles and red tape of the digital age.

Look at what it takes to get subsidies for a sheet of tarpaulin — a farmer has to be Digital India compliant (no cash payment), prove his Swachh Bharat credentials (no toilet, no subsidy), be in tune with the GST regime (GST invoice required), and be eligible for Direct Benefit Transfer (no corruption in transfer of subsidy).

With no tarpaulin in Dahanu that met with the government specifications, our group decided to return empty-handed to the village. While we were leaving, the agriculture officer beckoned me and said, “Call me after a week, we will try and find a dealer who will give you the tarpaulin as per our specification.”

On our way back, there was silence in the vehicle, I am sure the one thought running in each of our minds was the same: “This subsidy — it just wasn’t worth it!”

The writer is an organic farmer in Dahanu, Maharashtra

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