Govt to clear Rs 720 crore pending MSP dues to farmers

The state government will release pending Minimum Support Price (MSP) dues of about Rs 721 crore over the next two days.

These are pending dues of ragi, rice and wheat that were procured five months ago, Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar said.

A decision to this effect was taken on Thursday in a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on MSP.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Somashekar said ragi, rice and wheat were bought under MSP, but there was a delay in releasing funds. The chief minister has now approved releasing Rs 721 crore. This will be credited to the farmers’ accounts over the next two days.

The sub-committee will meet again on July 29 and take a call for fixing the MSP for the current year, he said. The sub-committee will also look into various measures to be taken to avoid payment delays in the future, the minister added.

The sub-committee members include Agriculture Minister B C Patil, Food & Civil Supplies Minister Umesh Katti, Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa, Municipal Administration & Sugar Minister M T B Nagaraj and Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan.

Govt issues ex gratia order

The state government on Thursday issued an order to provide Rs 1 lakh compensation for BPL families which have lost an earning member due to Covid-19. Families will have to submit necessary documents that certify the cause of death as Covid-19. Even if a BPL family lost more than one person due to Covid-19, they will be eligible for a compensation of Rs 1 lakh only, the order stated. District authorities should secure all relevant details to confirm Covid-19 deaths as suggested by the Technical Advisory Committee. The compensation will be debited directly into the accounts of the families.