The State government has been accused by the Hill Farmers Union (HFU) of being “totally deaf” to the problems of the farming community in the state, which has had to struggle through a bitterly cold snap and hailstorms that have devastated crops.
HFU president Commander Shangpliang said today that the bouts of hail have destroyed rice, soft leafy vegetables and fruits, such as strawberries.
Shangpliang said that the HFU has tried to get the government to understand the issues facing farmers but to no avail.
“It is hard when you go and apprise matters related to the farmers to a government that is totally deaf,” Shangpliang lamented. “Some departments would ask us to give them the list of the farmers and areas affected but this has been going on for years with but no assistance reaching the farmers whose produce is shattered by the natural catastrophes.”
He claimed that, in some cases, farmers whose paddy fields are completely destroyed by Mother Nature get assistance of only Rs 75 to Rs 500.
“This kind of assistance is like an insult to the farmers in distress and does not even match their taxi fares to go to the government offices,” he said, adding that all the big speeches by the government do not really amount to much when it comes to the ground reality of agriculturists.
The HFU is still collecting data with regards to the damage wrought by hailstorms. However, past experience does not give them much confidence that the farmers will be aided. Shangpliang recounted that when hail damaged crops in Nongspung last year, the Chief Minister was given the data directly but no assistance came forth from the government despite the cost running into crores of rupees.
Meanwhile, Shangpliang also said that a survey report, titled ‘Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Holdings of Households in Rural India, 2019’, concerning Meghalaya is false.
According to this report, in 2018-19 an average farmer household in Meghalaya earned about Rs 29,348 per month whereas a Punjab farmer’s household earned about Rs 26,701.
“The HFU has conducted a survey in various villages and found out that this is a false claim made by the government. We will not accept such false claims,” he said, adding that the HFU will officially write to the government on this issue.
