Don’t disrupt Rabi crops

THE Central government is all set to introduce the “so-called” direct benefit transfer (DBT) of fertiliser subsidies in Punjab and Haryana next month. The supposedly DBT scheme, which has already been rolled out in some states, technically does not qualify to be called a direct transfer of cash subsidy into bank accounts of beneficiaries. Unlike in a “normal” DBT where subsidy amount is directly credited to the Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of the beneficiaries, under the proposed system subsidy will be credited to the accounts of fertiliser companies. Besides, it would subject a farmer to hassles of getting Aadhaar authentication and furnishing land details at retail centres to get cheaper fertiliser. These hassles are unnecessary and unwarranted and the scheme falls short of the laudable goal of eliminating middlemen.     

Curiously, such an important announcement was attributed by a news agency on Monday, to a Joint Secretary, a relatively junior-level official in the Union Fertiliser Ministry. There is no need for the government to press a panic button just before the sowing season. Fertiliser is a crucial and costly input. While the new system may not hit affluent farmers, it would certainly ruin the prospects of poor and illiterate farmers, who may, then, ultimately be forced to buy costly fertiliser. It will also weaken the prevailing cooperative system that ensures fertiliser for even small and marginal farmers.

After demonetisation and the GST glitches, it must be presumed that the government has learnt an important lesson: do not hurry and disrupt established institutions, without putting in place a foolproof alternative. The pros and cons of the new system need to be evaluated before extending it to crop-rich states. The government is under pressure from multilateral agencies to cut farm subsidies under the garb of such schemes. Such pressures are to be resisted as Indian agriculture needs to be strengthened, rather than disrupted. Farmers can be helped by providing them direct market access to sell their produce. To begin with, arhtias or middlemen should be immediately removed so that farmers can get better price for their produce and voluntarily give up subsidies.