Chandigarh: The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana launched a scheme for farmers last week, months before assembly elections, but it isn’t fuelling the kind of enthusiasm he would have hoped for.
Called ‘Meri fasal mera byora’, the scheme calls for farmers to mandatorily enrol themselves on a portal to ensure end-to-end government support — from cultivation to smooth procurement of crops.
The details sought include crop information, bank account details, and mobile number, with the scheme also seeking to ensure that benefits of farmer-centred initiatives — including those launched by the Centre — are directly passed on to the beneficiaries.
However, farmer bodies have pointed to glitches during the pilot rollout to express doubts about the scheme, besides voicing fears that the registration process smacks of a possible privatisation bid. The plan, they add, is really meant to benefit banks.
A database
Chief Minister Khattar launched the scheme on 4 July with the inauguration of the portal www.fasalhry.in, where farmers feed their data.
The portal is intended to serve as a database of farm land owners, cultivators and commission agents, and will also contain details of every square inch of land under cultivation, including the crop sown.
Last year, it was rolled out on a pilot basis in some districts of Haryana, and government officials say hiccups identified during the trial run have been rectified.
Every farmer who registers will be paid Rs 10 per acre for signing up. Those unable to register on their own have been told to seek the assistance of village common service centres for free.
According to the state government, the information provided by each farmer will be corroborated with mandis, then through physical verification of the crop and, finally, with geo-spatial data gathered by Haryana Space Applications Centre.
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Does not ease procurement
A senior government official told ThePrint that registration on the portal will ensure that the farmer gets support, right from sowing to sale at mandis.
Speaking at the scheme’s launch on 4 July, Khattar said that the crops for which the government has fixed a minimum support price (MSP) will definitely be procured under the scheme.
However, Gurnam Singh, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union Haryana, scoffed at the promise.
“This is not true,” he said, adding, “In Kurukshetra, during the pilot test, despite farmers registering on the portal, sunflower was only procured from some farmers. Also, the quantity the government fixed per acre for procurement was lower than the produce.”
“The government wants to slowly withdraw from the procurement process and give this data to private agencies, who will then start procuring crops,” he added.
Singh also raised questions about the mandatory clause.
“Does the government mean that farmers who are unable to register by the time procurement starts will not be able to sell their produce at the mandis?” said Singh.
Again citing an example from the pilot days, he said 200 farmers failed to sell their produce at Shahbad mandi because they were not able to register with the portal. “Around 400 farmers who made mistakes while filling up the online registration form were considered to have not registered at all,” he added.
Singh said farmers were also suspicious about the promise of direct money transfer.
“The majority of the farmers are reeling under loans and have not been able to pay their interest or principal amount to banks,” he added, “In case any payment is made directly into the account of a debt-ridden farmer, it will be immediately taken over by the bank as loan repayment. Very few farmers, therefore, want any money to be directly sent to their bank accounts.”
Commission agents wary too
Commission agents, who serve as the link between farmers and buyers at mandis, have also voiced doubts, despite Khattar’s assurance that crops will continue to be procured through them.
“Whatever the scheme may be, in the end, it is intentioned to take commission agents out of the system,” said Bajrang Das Garg, president of the Haryana Beopar Mandal, a representative body for commission agents.
“In the past four years, we have protested eight times in order to stop the government from breaking the traditional relationship between farmers and commission agents and this is just another such bid,” he added.
The aforementioned government official, however, sought to assuage concerns, saying the system was aimed at streamlining procurement while bringing transparency vis-a-vis land ownership.
Explaining the transparency argument in the context of a plot with multiple owners, the official added, “In case one of the owners of the land registers himself, a message will be sent to the other owners. Similarly, when a cultivator registers himself, a message will be sent to the owner of the land. If there is any discrepancy, an alarm can be raised.”
The official reiterated that several drawbacks of the portal identified during the pilot — including the failure to register multiple crops being cultivated on the same plot — had been corrected. Village common service centres were looped in, the official added, to ensure no mistakes crept into forms to inconvenience farmers later.
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