Bengaluru: The state government has asked the farmers to update their land details by the end of this month as those who have under-reported the size of their plots could lose out on drought compensation.
Revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday said this while addressing a news conference in Bengaluru after a meeting with deputy commissioners and tahsildars. “The drought compensation will be directly transferred to the beneficiaries’ account based on the documents available on FRUITS (Farmer Registration and Unified Beneficiary Information System). Several farmers have under-reported the size of their plot while creating the FRUITS ID manually. Now, we have given 15 days time to make corrections,” said the minister.
The minister added that a campaign will be launched at the office of deputy commissioner, tahsildar, Agriculture and Horticulture departments for this purpose. “Though 95% of farmers have created FRUITS ID, only 62% plot size is available on our database. Once the system is ready we can make payments in the next 2-3 days,” explained the minister.
Meanwhile, the minister said that utilising FRUITS data to pay compensation is mainly to avoid fund misappropriation. “Misappropriations were reported while distributing drought or any other natural calamities compensation in the previous year. There were cases where officials transferred the amount to their relatives’ account as the data was recorded manually. Following all these we have decided to utilise FRUITS data,” minister mentioned.
The minister, however, said that the state is waiting for the decision from the Centre to disburse drought compensation.
Expressing disappointment over the Union Agriculture minister not responding to the requests seeking appointment, the minister said that he had written 10 letters since September requesting for appointment to brief about the drought situation in Karnataka. “We have even said that, ready to meet anywhere in India, but not getting any response,” he said.
Revenue courts told to clear pendency Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday instructed the officials for the speedy disposal of pending cases at AC court and DC courts. “All the cases pending for the last 8-9 years should be cleared within 90 days and we have given clear instructions to officials regarding this” he said. Minister even mentioned that 1000-plus pending cases at the AC courts will be delegated to the equivalent officers for quicker disposal. There are over 43929 cases pending at AC courts across the state. Meanwhile to avoid delay in disposal of files the minister has instructed to maintain e-Filing. The e-Filing should be implemented by December end at all the tahsildar offices.
(Published 11 November 2023, 00:29 IST)