Subsidy for bore wells flows into pockets

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Cuttack: Inadequate irrigation facilities are often blamed for poor agricultural productivity and low income to farmers. The Central and state governments have introduced several schemes to help farmers irrigate their lands. However, funds sanctioned under these schemes seldom reach the peasants.
A case in point is an irrigation scheme launched by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at Centre that has failed to achieve its objectives in the district due to misappropriation of funds.
To provide lift irrigation facility to the farmers, the UPA government had made provisions for at least 50 per cent subsidy to the farmers who would opt for digging bore wells on their agricultural fields. While the project cost of each bore well was fixed at Rs 40,598, the farmers were supposed to get a subsidy of Rs 20,000. The Agricultural Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Limited (APICOL) was made the nodal agency for implementation of the lift irrigation scheme.
However, massive irregularities in the implementation of the irrigation scheme were reported from several panchayats in Barang block. Some unscrupulous people had misappropriated the subsidy money by forging documents to claim that bore wells were sunk on the agricultural fields of several farmers of Korkora, Sainsho and Harianta panchayats. Sources said the irregularities came to light in February, 2015 when a team from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) conducted a survey on irrigation facilities at Andhoti village in Barang.
Soon, a villager, Basanta Kumar Jena, had sought detailed information on the implementation of lift irrigation scheme in Barang block through an RTI application to the Agriculture Department of the district administration. To his surprise Jena was informed in the RTI reply that a bore well project had been implemented on a farmland of his younger brother Ananta Kumar Jena.
Government documents had claimed that the lift irrigation project at Ananta’s agricultural field at Purusottampur mouza was irrigating his crops as well as providing water to the fields of Kalandi Jena, Sarat Chandra Jena and Dhirendra Pradhan.
Jena, however, could not find a bore well on his brother’s farmland. Besides, he came to know that Kalandi, Sarat and Dhirendra did not have landed properties near Ananta’s farm land. As per the government documents, at least 13 farmers of Andhoti were included in the irrigation scheme, but in reality none of them had a bore well, sources said.
Jena lodged a complaint in this regard with the district agriculture officer but to no avail. He had also reported the irregularities to the Chief Minister’s Grievances Cell.
Miffed over authorities’ reluctance to probe the scam, Jena filed a complaint with the Cuttack division of Vigilance department. Sources said a Vigilance department inspector has been assigned to probe the irregularities. When contacted, district deputy director of agriculture Paresh Chandra Sahu said he has no information on the irrigation scheme scam. PNN