Chhattisgarh agriculture minister Ravindra Choubey, in a statement to the media on Tuesday, claimed that a total of Rs 5,553.8 crore has been paid in four instalments to nearly 20.58 lakh farmers of the state as agricultural input assistance under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana.

The statement termed the information regarding deduction in the amount of fourth instalment as “false and baseless”.

The minister said that under the scheme, this input assistance has been given to the registered farmers of Kharif year 2020 at the rate of Rs 9,000 per acre as per the provision of scheme.

“In Kharif year 2020, a total of 92.56 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was procured at the rate of 15 quintals per acre. The area of paddy acquired was 61,70,088 acres and Rs 4,523.77 crore was paid as the first three instalments and Rs 1029.31 crore was paid as the fourth instalment by chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on March 31,” the statement said quoting the minister.

“The amount has been transferred in four instalments directly to the bank accounts of farmers,” the statement said.

Briefing about the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana at Raipur, the minister said the scheme has been implemented in the state from the year 2019.

“Under this, an input assistance of Rs 11,180.97 crore has been released directly into the bank accounts of farmers in the last two years under Kharif year 2019 and Kharif year 2020. It is the first-of-its-kind scheme launched by the Chhattisgarh government to provide direct assistance to farmers and promote crop diversification,” said Choubey.

“Expanding the scope of the scheme from Kharif 2021, a provision has been made to give input assistance at the rate of Rs 9,000 per acre to farmers cultivating agriculture and horticulture crops. Besides, it has been decided to give an input assistance of Rs 10,000 per acre if a farmer chooses to cultivate pulses, oilseeds and horticulture crops instead of paddy in the registered paddy area. Farmers utilising their fields for plantation will be given a grant of Rs 10,000 per acre for three years. In this way the state government is constantly working in the interest of farmers,” the minister said.

In the Kharif year 2021, the support price of paddy, thick and thin, was declared at Rs 1,940 and Rs 1,960 per quintal respectively. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana, on the basis of Rs 9,000 per acre, an additional amount of Rs 600 per quintal will be payable in the financial year 2022-23. In this way, the farmers sowing paddy will get Rs 2,540 and Rs 2,560 per quintal respectively along with support price.

In the financial year 2022-23, more than Rs 7,000 crore is likely to be paid to the farmers under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana.

“This is not only bringing economic prosperity in the lives of farmers but is also proving to be beneficial in enhancing agriculture productivity of the state,” the statement said.