Tamil Nadu: Drought-Hit Farmers Receive Cheques Of Rs 3, Rs 5, Rs 10 As Crop Insurance

In a shocking incident, farmers across drought-hit parts of Tamil Nadu allegedly received Rs 3, Rs 4, Rs 5 and Rs 10 as crop insurance. It came to light after Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly in Tamil Nadu M.K. Stalin raised the issue when K. Pitchandi, MLA from his party showed few such cheques to the house.

Pitchandi said that opening a bank account requires Rs 500, and without a bank account, a farmer cannot encash the cheque.

According to The Hindu, Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju, such complaints had been received from five farmers in Dindigul and another was reported from Nagapattinam. “The collectors have been directed to look into the issue and take appropriate action,” he said.

Replying to the questions raised, Agriculture Minister R. Doraikannu said the issue would be resolved soon. “Tamil Nadu is one of the top States in disbursal of crop insurance,” he added.

O.S. Manian, Minister for Textiles admitted that the issue is due to clerical error. He said, “Due to unavailability of staffs this issue has occurred”.

“These mistakes have been found and will be rectified. This issue is affecting only about 2-3% of farmers and will be rectified by April 15,” he added.

Farmers struggle in Tamil Nadu

In January last year, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu O Panneerselvam declared the state as drought-hit after 144 farmers died because of crop failure caused due to the failure of the northeast monsoon in 2016.

After the long protest of farmers in New Delhi, the Madras High Court on April 4, 2017, directed the Tamil Nadu government to waive off loans for all farmers of the state. All loans obtained from primary agricultural cooperative banks till March 31, 2016, should be waived off, told the court.

However, reports suggest that the loans are not entirely waived off.