Farmers of Khariar block staged a demonstration in front of the Khariar Block office on Monday demanding early payment of crop insurance dues for the year 2015-16 and estimation of crop loss during Kharif 2016-17.
The farmers of the district have not yet been paid their insurance amounts although the fund to the extent of Rs 90 crore has already been allotted to the district more than a month ago.
It is learnt that the insurance coverage in Khariar block has been more than the area coverage under paddy crop. So, the district authorities have instructed the concerned officials to go through the insurance documents of each farmer to identify the duplication.
"Some farmers have done insurance for the same land in different banks," said officials. However, BJP Krushak Morcha district president Sanjay Tiwari said it is the fault of the Revenue and Agriculture Departments. "Why did they allow the farmers to do such duplication; they could have rejected the applications during verification," added Tiwari.
The District Agriculture Officer (DAO) of Khariar was called by the BDO to the block office for discussion with the demonstrators. The DAO was given 15 days’ time to address the matter. "We will lock the agriculture office and banks if our grievances are not addressed within 15 days," warned the farmers.