Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Friday announced that the compensation for the damage caused to crops due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms would be distributed to farmers in the State on war footing from May 1 to 15.
A decision to this effect was taken in a review meeting held under the Chief Minister on Friday. It has also been decided to raise the limit of minimum compensation to be paid from Rs250 to Rs500 for all previous compensations which are yet to be disbursed by the present Government.
The Chief Minister said that additional 500 special patwaris would be engaged in this task. The concerned minister of District Grievance Redressal Committees will supervise the distribution of compensation.
Manohar lal said that Additional Chief Secretaries and Principal Secretaries would monitor this work in their concerned allotted districts. As per the report, a sum of over Rs1,092 crore would be distributed among farmers. All Deputy Commissioners have been directed to prepare Amount Payment Receipt (APR) by April 30.
The State Government has constituted special committees under the chairmanship of HCS officer or class-I officer for the distribution of compensation amount which include representative of Revenue Department, Agriculture Department.
The proceedings of the Committee would be videographed and all disbursement of compensation by the committee would be done at a public place. Also, the disbursement would be made in the presence of Sarpanch, Panch, lambardar and other well known person.
As per the revised norms for disbursement, compensation for wheat, paddy, cotton and sugarcane would be Rs7,000 per acre for 25 to 50 per cent damage, Rs9,500 per acre for more than 50 per cent and up to 75 per cent damage and Rs12,000 per acre for over 75 per cent damage whereas in case of Mustard and other crops the compensation would be Rs5,000, Rs7,000 and Rs10,000 per acre, respectively.
Earlier, the State Government had announced to waive off previous six months and next six months electricity bills, rescheduling the payment of loans for a period of three years and providing interest-free loans to farmers for next crop loan in affected areas.