Patna,(BiharTimes): The recent announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that farmers who had suffered even 33 per cent of crop-loss due to hailstorm and unseasonal rain would be provided relief from the government was welcomed by many across the country.Earlier farmers who had suffered 50 per cent crop-loss were entitled to such help.

But many farmers are not too pleased with this gesture as this help would go to only those who possess two or less than two acres (about five bighas) of land. True there is a large number of marginal farmers, yet the number of farmers with five bigha or slightly more land is not small.

“Possessing two acres or more land is nothing. In today’s situation even 10 acres of land means little. Why should they be deprived of this help,” asked Siyaram a farmer of Guraru block of Gaya district, while talking to BiharTimes. "It is very difficult to sustain even a family of 6 with this chunk of land" he added.

In Bihar, where the percentage of people relying on farming is much higher than the national average, the situation is more alarming. The recent natural calamities have hit the farmers hard.

The problem with the farmers, especially in Bihar is that though the landed property are divided, yet in many cases they are not divided on paper or the government record. So if four brothers and sisters jointly possess, say six or seven acres of land, they actually have something around 1.5 acres of land each. But since in the government record they have not been divided they are not entitled to any help in
the time of crisis.

What is more the government has laid down different criteria for help in irrigated, unirrigated and multi-crop land. This has opened a floodgate for corruption. An affluent farmer can get the criteria of his land changed by paying bribe to the local officials.As if that was not enough the government agencies in Bihar have fallen well short in procuring kharif crops. Against the target of 30 lakh tonnes they could procure only 19 lakh tonnes.

So if the farmers of the state had to sell this over 10 lakh tonnes of their produce in the market to traders at the much cheaper rate––at least Rs 300 per tonne less. So the state farmers at least got Rs 30 crores less for the kharif crop at the time when their winter crops have been badly damaged.