The Odisha government promised seed-growing farmers on Monday that they would receive their production incentives within two days. A delegation of farmers met with Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment Minister Arun Sahoo at Lok Seva Bhawan to express their concern after officials informed them that direct payment to beneficiaries through the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) was not possible after the financial year ended.
M Muthukumar, Director, Agriculture and Food Production, assured farmers that they should not be concerned because the directorate has agreed to transfer incentives to farmers' accounts via the RTGS payment method.
The real-time gross settlement (RTGS) is a kind of cash transfer that permits money supplied by the government to reach the intended beneficiary as soon as possible.
Ashok Baral, farmer's director on the Board of Directors of Odisha State Seeds Corporation, headed the 25-member group from throughout the state (OSSC).
Following their meeting with the Minister, Muthukumar was asked to make the required arrangements for the direct transfer of the benefit to the recipient's accounts.
He also ordered that the scheme officers who are responsible for the delay in disbursement be held accountable.
The Agriculture Director informed the committee that the State government still has the Rs 9 crore Central incentives due to technical issues that have now been resolved, disbursement was not possible.
Within a few days, the payment will be made. However, a scheming officer said that disbursement is not possible without the department Secretary's approval. "PFMS did not answer our request because the payment was not made before March 31, 2022, the end of the financial year," the officer explained.
The timely TNIE report, according to Gokula Pradhan, a farmer from Bargarh who was part of the trip, was the saving grace. As a result, the administration was forced to move quickly.
Prior to meeting with the Minister, Baral brought the farmers' plight to the attention of Chief Secretary Suresh Mahapatra by sending him a news report titled "State surrenders Rs 9 crore farm incentive to Centre" published in TNIE on Monday, pleading with him to intervene in the payment of farmers' dues.
The Chief Secretary immediately raised the problem with Sanjeev Chopra, Additional Chief Secretary, and Agriculture Production Commissioner, to ensure that the farmers' payments were made as soon as possible.
