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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | In Haryana’s poorest part, subsidies go to the dead & fake -Sandali Tiwari

In Haryana’s poorest part, subsidies go to the dead & fake -Sandali Tiwari

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published Published on Sep 25, 2014   modified Modified on Sep 25, 2014
-The Indian Express


Mawat (Haryana): Farmers Hatti, Ibrahim and Hurmat, of Dhana village in Haryana's Mewat district, died several years ago - the first two in 2001; Hurmat in 2006. But according to the Haryana Horticulture Department, they applied for - and received - subsidy under the National Mission on Micro Irrigation (NMMI) in 2011.

"When we went to the district horticulture department office to claim subsidy in 2013, we were told that subsidy in my father's name had been released in 2011," Ibrahim's son Javed, also a farmer in Dhana, said.

"My father Ibrahim died in 2001 at the age of 75. The department claimed that he received subsidy of 1.48 lakh," he said. Official records show Hatti "claimed" the subsidy in 2011. But his nephew, Ali Mohammad, has a death certificate that shows Hatti was long dead by then.

"We were told by the horticulture department that he had already claimed subsidy, and the family was not eligible for it for the next five years," Ali Mohammad said. In Dhana in Punhana tehsil, some 100 km south of Delhi in one of poll-bound Haryana's most backward regions - with some of the worst social indicators in the country - cases of the dead ‘claiming' government subsidy abound.

Documents accessed by The Indian Express show that more than 80 ‘beneficiaries' of the NMMI scheme in the last two years had never applied for the subsidy. Subsidies were released on the basis of forged voter IDs, many of which carried the same fake address.

The NMMI scheme, which until 2010 was known as Micro Irrigation Scheme or MIS, is intended to promote micro irrigation technology to improve water use efficiency in agriculture, cut consumption of fertilisers and power, and to improve both production and productivity. The Centre pays 40 per cent and states 10 per cent of the cost; the rest is borne by the beneficiary who gets a soft loan.

The implementing agency is the state government, the money is transferred from Centre to state, and disbursed to districts to finally reach beneficiary farmers. Cheques are in the names of contractors who supply and install the sprinklers. The scheme has been in operation in Haryana since 2006-07.
The state horticulture department says there may have been fraud, and the matter is being investigated. "We did receive some complaints from Dhana village. We carried out a preliminary inquiry in March and recommended the setting up of a high-level committee," Ranbir Singh, deputy director of the horticulture department, said.

Documents accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by one of the ‘beneficiaries' show fake documents were used to apply for the subsidy. A total Rs 3.11 crore was released by the horticulture department for Dhana in the 2011-12 fiscal - the bulk of the subsidy coming between October 2011 and March 2012.

Usman Khan, 67, was shown as having received subsidy worth Rs 1.48 lakh. "I never applied for any subsidy, but they showed me documents that showed sprinklers had been installed in my field," Usman said.

Documents also show that subsidies were released not only in Khan's name, but also in the names of his brothers Alam and Suleman. The brothers together own nine acres of land. "But according to the documents given to us by the district horticulture department, subsidy has been given for 12.5 acres," Alam said.

62-year-old Rehmatbi, on applying for the subsidy, was told she had already got her money. Her application form includes her voter ID card and signature. "I do not have a voter ID card in Haryana and I can't sign my name," she said, showing a voter ID from Rajasthan. "And the picture with the application is that of a 20-year-old girl."

Younus, a farmer from the same village, is shown as having received a subsidy of Rs 1.22 lakh, even though he never applied for it. According to documents, approximately Rs 2 crore was allotted to the contractor, Dihana Enterprises, in 2011-2012. Shamin Ahmed, owner of Dihana Enterprises, alleged that villagers of Dhana had "plotted" against him.

"The cheques for the subsidies from the government have stopped, and all contracts have been taken away from Dihana Enterprises until the investigation is over," he said.

Most farmers who are supposed to have signed on the subsidy papers are, in fact, illiterate. Photocopies of voter ID cards - an identification document used in all the subsidy forms - of 25 farmers show the same address: House No. 41, Block 2, which does not exist. "Our village does not have blocks. So, there is no question of a block number 2," said Ishaq, who lives in House No. 41.

The addresses on several voter ID cards say Dhana village is in "F P Jirkha" or Firozpur Jirkha tehsil. Dhana is, in fact, a part of Punhana tehsil. The farmer who filed the RTI application said, "There is something clearly wrong. The voter ID cards look forged. In some applications, the serial number on the voter card does not match with Punhana tehsil's serial number."

In other cases, the addresses in Hindi and English do not match. Usman's application records his address in Hindi as House No. 29, Block No. 2. In English, the address says House No. 41, Block No. 2.

Standing in his field, farmer Aas Mohammed said, "As you can see, there is no sprinkler or irrigation equipment here. But according to the government, I have availed of the subsidy already, and now cannot apply for the next five years."


The Indian Express, 25 September, 2014, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/in-haryanas-poorest-part-subsidies-go-to-the-dead-fake/99/


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