Keonjhar: The Centre aims to push irrigation coverage of farmlands through ‘Har Khet ko Pani’ or “Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)”, but farmers in tribal pockets like Jumpura in Keonjhar alleged massive irregularities in the scheme. They staged protests at the watershed office here Thursday.
According to reports, scores of farmers of Baria panchayat have drawn attention of the Collector to the irregularities.
Earlier, they made written complaints at the project director’s office of the watershed mission. Despite repeated complaints, they were not provided funds. They came to the Collectorate to raise the issue, but the Collector was absent. Upset, they went to the watershed office and staged protests there Thursday.
According to farmers, some officials of the watershed office had visited Sitaramur, Gobindapur, Balipasi and other villages in September 2019. They took photographs of farmers, collected copies of Aadhar cards, bank passbooks and land pattas.
When farmers sought to know the reason of the exercise, the officials told farmers they will be provided with Rs 5000 by the government.
However, none of the farmers had received that fund at all. Surprisingly, after a few days, it was learnt that Rs 30,000 was credited into the bank accounts of a few farmers.
The officials, however, managed to misappropriate the funds.
The farmers were confused over the Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana. Later, they asked the president and secretary of the local watershed committee about the fund of the Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana.
The two pleaded to be unaware of the fund credited into farmers’ accounts and later being misappropriated.
The farmers suspected a huge scam in the Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojana. They alleged that neither the administration nor the watershed mission officials pay heed to the irregularities. They warned of an agitation if no step is taken in this regard.
Notably, the central government prioritises water conservation and its management through PMKSY. The scheme aims at extending the coverage of irrigation and improving water use efficiency ‘More crop per drop’ in a focused manner.