After well over a decade of patient and sustained legal battle, 31 farmers in Aland taluk in Kalaburagi district have won compensation for substandard seeds supplied to them by the Agriculture Department.
The dispute, which began in 2010, has come to a close by the fag end of 2023. However, three of the farmers died before the final order came.
The Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (KSCDRC) recently passed an order directing the department to compensate the distressed farmers of Madiyal village for the loss of black gram crop owing to supply of substandard seeds by the department through the Karnataka State Seeds Corporation (KSSC).
They had sown black gram crop on nearly 195 hectares, but suffered huge losses as the seeds failed to germinate in 2010.
How dispute began
The then Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner had directed the Joint Director of Agriculture to conduct inspection of fields and take steps to provide compensation to farmers. A team of agricultural scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur, visited various fields and submitted a report in September, 2010. They noticed that 70% to 80% of the fields were affected.
The scientists found that black gram crop on these fields stood at 2.5 ft to 3 ft height but did not germinate. Following the report by UAS-Raichur, and directions issued by the State government in October, 2010, the Commissioner of Agriculture Department conducted an inquiry and concluded that the farmers had suffered huge losses because of supply of defective seeds.
He ordered providing compensation of ₹1,500 per acre, and released ₹2,92,500 in November 2010.
But the department failed to disburse the compensation until the farmers approached the District Consumers Dispute Redressal Forum in May 2012. The forum then ordered compensation of ₹5,000 per acre (deducting the ₹ 1,500 already paid to them), along with interest of 9% per annum from the date of filing of the complaint till its release, and also ₹250 to each of the 31 farmers towards cost of the proceedings.
Appeal filed
However, the KSSC filed an appeal in the Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in July 2012 against the order passed by the district forum. It was after 11 years that the commission issued orders dismissing the appeal and upheld the order passed by the forum. It directed that the amount deposited shall be transferred to the commission concerned to pay the same to the farmers.
Advocate Vaijnath Zhalki, who led the legal fight of farmers, expressed displeasure over KSCDRC’s delay in passing the orders. He also argued that the compensation ordered by the commission to the farmers, after waiting for over a decade, was not satisfactory.
“It took so many years for the commission to pass an order and three of the complainant farmers have died because of old age and health-related issues. And the irony is that the KSSC and Agriculture Department, who have to protect the interests of farmers, went against them and filed an appeal. Supply of substandard seeds is punishable under the Consumer Act,” Mr. Zhalki added.
Sharanabasappa Mamshetty, district president of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, demanded that the commission order a higher compensation.
