In his talk, the village pradhan said that the Union Government could directly step in to install anti-hail guns under a special project (agriculture being a state subject). The same goes for iron poles too. “We cannot afford to install iron poles on our own. The cost is too high. The price of a quintal of iron is Rs 9500 in the local market, which is beyond our reach. The government should step in by granting substantial subsidies towards this end,” he said. He pointed out the increase in cost of apple production. “The situation has turned bad. The small and marginal growers have been rendered hand to mouth. We are basically surviving on the credit limit for farmers extended by the local bank. We are not able to pay back that too and we are helpless when the banks take us to court.” Growers also demanded inclusion of damage caused by hailstorm in the agriculture insurance policy.
During the meeting, the Central team members made note of a few points, took down names of some prominent persons, and steered clear from ensuring any concrete action. The team leader Pramod Kumar Maherda expressed his sympathy for the loss caused, made some noise about extending help and promised to hold a meeting with the state government regarding the issues. He assured the growers to present his report to the Union ministry. The team exchanged pleasantries with those present, and were off in a jiffy without even visiting a single orchard. “I had stored the broken poles in my orchard to show these as proof of the kind of damaged caused. But they simply did not bother to take a look,” said orchard owner Lokinder Singh Banshtu.
In the agriculture policy framed by Himachal Pradesh government, instead of giving direct aid, the government extends subsidies on inputs such as anti-hail nets, grading and packing machines, horticulture and agriculture implements, land improvement, and other related areas. Though, of late, the amount given as subsidies as a percentage of total cost has been reduced substantially, and in some cases like fungicides, insecticide and other plant medicines, these have been totally withdrawn. The subsidy policy adopted by the government has led to massive corruption, where the subsidy money hardly ever reaches those who are in real need of it. “I have never received a single rupee from the government as compensation for natural disasters,” said Shakti Singh Machhan. The majority of the apple growers demanded direct transfer of the money to their bank accounts instead of going through the subsidy route, which results in rogue elements or those with connections in the right places making false papers in connivance with the officials involved and make away with the government money.
