Thiruvananthapuram: Several farmers across the state were denied their three-month pension when the fiscal year ended on Saturday. The intimation to submit electronic allotment of the farmers’ pension reached the offices of many agricultural officers only by 4 p.m. on March 31 though the ministry had issued the order on March 27. The agricultural officers submit their bills through Bill Information and Management System (BiMS), an e-Bill portal for claim settlements by drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs) who prepare online contingent bills and e-submit to the treasury.
But they were told to submit them via online and send the hard copies to the respective treasuries. An agricultural officer told DC that they were given time till 8 p.m. on March 31 to do the electronic transfer which was an unhealthy trend. “The pension of over 3. 6 lakh farmers across the state has been pending since October 2017. We have only a data entry operator and a clerk at the district level agricultural offices. If they are not familiar with the BiMS and Budget Allocation and Monitoring System (BAMS), an online computerised system to distribute the budget allocation and authorise expenditure, the farmers will be left high and dry,” said the officer.
But agriculture director A. M. Sunil Kumar told DC that there was a delay to file the electronic allotment after the government sanctioned Rs 71 crore to meet the farmers’ pension which has been due for the last few months. He maintained that the agricultural officers were granted time until midnight to sort out the issues.
Agriculture Minister V. S. Sunil Kumar told DC that the agriculture director will give him the statistics on the number of farmers who have been denied pension on Tuesday. “Once I get the final tally, it will be re-allotted. Currently farmers in Kollam, Thrissur and Kozhikode have been denied their pension which will be granted on Tuesday itself,” he said. Meanwhile, the Congress party will stage a secretariat picketing on Wednesday highlighting the plight of the farmers.
