The agriculture department at the Dahanu panchayat samiti office (Palghar district, Maharashtra) wears a desolate look. Until a year ago one could see crowds of people waiting to buy subsidised agricultural inputs and implements ahead of the Rabi season. Seeds, pesticides, farm equipment and other tools are provided to farmers at concessional rates ranging from 25 to 75 per cent.

The crowds are missing this year as few farmers have the time to run around for the tedious paperwork that was introduced recently, as an attempt to curb corruption. The State Government’s intention is, no doubt, noble, but seems to be poorly planned and executed.

It is common knowledge that the officials at the samiti office were corrupt. They usually charged more from the farmer and pocketed the difference. Besides, some of the products were siphoned off to the thriving black market.

The paper trap

There was no documentation for the items sold, just a register with the name and signature of the farmer. All transactions were in cash, no receipt was issued and a copy of the land title was enough to claim the subsidy. There was no way to verify if the items were indeed sold to a genuine farmer, so the officials did not run the risk of getting caught and records could be easily fudged. Though the villagers were aware of this, they reasoned that it did not matter as they got the items at a lower price than in the market.

This year, the Government has come up with a stringent procedure for subsidy application. According to its circular, farmers will have to make an application along with a list of documents, which will then be sent to the district headquarters in Palghar, for approval. The documents required include the land title, residence certificate (gharpatti), income certificate, Aadhaar card, an affidavit declaring one is not a government employee, caste certificate if needed, bank passbook, electricity bill and two photographs.

While this procedure makes it difficult for the officials to indulge in corrupt practices, it also makes it difficult for the average farmer to apply for the subsidy. Putting together all the documents is no easy task. A s corruption is rampant, even getting hold of the land title papers often involves paying an unofficial charge. The farmer will have to visit the gram panchayat, the local talathi (revenue officer) and the tehsil office to get hold of the documents. Besides paying bribes, there is also the cost of travel and loss of time during the busy period ahead of Rabi season.

At the village meeting in Peth, everyone is aghast at the Government directive. Baban Desai does a quick calculation and declares, “It will cost us around ₹1,000 to get all the documents plus running around for at least a week. What is the use of this subsidy?”

Double whammy

Few farmers are now willing to spend the time and money for subsidies — sometimes all they need is a sickle or a tarpaulin sheet. One official at the samiti said applications for single items will not be processed and each village will have to order at least 50 tarpaulin sheets so that bulk orders can be placed with the district head-office. Farmer Raghu Valvi says, “They should shut down this department. The savings on salary itself will be good for the Government.”

While the effort to curb corruption is laudable, farmers now require several documents even to buy one sickle. Some say this is a case of killing two birds with one stone: there will be no corruption and a huge saving on subsidy, as few would bother to apply for it now. It is a win-win for the Government.

The writer is an organic farmer based in Dahanu, Maharashtra

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