Fulfilling his promise of compensating the farmers for their damaged crops due to unseasonal rain, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will distribute the compensation cheques in Outer Delhi’s Bawana area on Friday.
According to senior Government officials, Kejriwal will give away cheques to around 100 farmers who have suffered losses due to rain. According to an estimate, over 19,000 farmers would be able to get benefit from the compensation scheme across Delhi.
A senior Government official had earlier said that farmers who have suffered crop loss of 70 per cent and above will be given a compensation of Rs20,000 per acre while those who have suffered less would be given a minimum compensation of Rs14,000 per acre.
“The compensation for farmers suffering from crop loss due to unseasonal rain has been divided into two slabs of Rs20,000 per acre and Rs14,000 per acre, which was announced by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal so that farmers get compensation through a transparent mechanism,” the official said.
Kejriwal had announced a compensation of Rs20,000 per acre for damaged crops during a farmers’ rally in Mundka last month, saying that his Government would stand firmly behind the peasants. The farmer compensation scheme was later named Gajendra Singh Kisan Sahayata Yojana after a Rajasthan-based farmer had allegedly hanged himself at an AAP rally at Jantar Mantar last month.
The Delhi Cabinet had approved the name of the scheme and the formula for payment of compensation to the farmers on May 1. The Kejriwal Government claims that this was the “highest-ever” compensation given to farmers by any State Government.
It has also been decided that any dispute arising between Government officials and farmers on the quantum of crop loss will be resolved in Gram Sabha nearest to the land of the affected farmer, he added.