While Arvind Kejriwal had announced a compensation of Rs20,000 per acre of land for failed crops amid much fanfare, farmers in the Capital are still awaiting any kind of study or survey to ascertain the extent of damage due to the unseasonal rain, let alone receive the compensation amount. Farmers claim that neither any patwari nor any official from the Revenue Department called on them. Moreover, no comprehensive survey was conducted either in any village to suss out their losses. Around 50 farmers from Jharoda Kalan village even put their signatures on an application and filed it to Najafgarh MlA Kailash Gehlot, but they claim that there hasn’t been any action on the part of the Government on the matter. Office of the said MlA, however, responded that the matter is being taken up, but it will take some time for the procedures to be followed.
There is however another issue to be taken into account. Many of the farmers are not the actual owners of the land that they cultivate. They take the land on lease and grow the crop on the fields that they don’t actually own. While the loss due to the crop damage is borne by them, the compensation may go to the landlord who may have already received the payment for the lease of one year. The actual farmer may not get the actual benefit even when, and if, the compensation for the damage is paid.
Samay Singh, a farmer from Jhuljhuli village in Najafgarh, told The Pioneer that no official came to his village on behalf of the Government to ascertain how much damage has been caused to the crops because of the unseasonal rain. “After crop is harvested, how are they going to find out the extent of damageIJ The fields are completely barren and whatever crop was left after the tragedy has already been harvested. I have a one-acre field, which used to yield around 60 maunds (2,400 kilo) of wheat. But this season, there have hardly been around 30 maunds (1,200 kilo). Clearly, the damage is around 50 per cent. But how would the Government know that if they live in their air-conditioned rooms and don’t come to the villagesIJ” he asked.
Azad Singh of Jharoda Kalan village agrees with Samay Singh and adds that even the quality of the wheat that has been harvested this season is so bad that even cattle won’t eat that. “But we will have to survive on that. The Government had promised Rs20,000 per acre of land for our crops that were damaged, but we have lost hope if we would ever get that,” he said.
He adds that a group of villagers collected signatures from everyone on an application asking the Government to give them the announced compensation and gave it to Kailash Gehlot, the MlA of Najafgarh, over two weeks back, but they haven’t heard anything on that matter since then.
“We are still waiting for any kind of help from the Government. Yes, the Government has announced compensation that is more than ever before, but how good is it if we never get itIJ” he asked.
When asked about the issue, the office of MlA Kailash Gehlot confirmed that there has indeed been a letter filed by the farmers, and matter is being taken up.
“There are 27 villages in Najafgarh out of which 21 come in our constituency. It’s not possible to meet every farmer. We have conducted meetings with some farmers groups to estimate the extent of damage and have sent a note to the SDM. The process will take some time but once we have the final estimates, we will gather account numbers of the farmers and the compensation amount will be sent directly to their accounts. The process may be completed by end of May,” said a source in the MlA’s office.