A vigilance cell attached to the Department of Agriculture and to be headed by an officer of the rank of Joint Director, was inaugurated for Mysuru Revenue Division here on Monday.
Minister for Agriculture B.C.Patil, who inaugurated it, said that so far there were two such cells for the entire State – at Bengaluru and Belagavi - and vested with the responsibility of overseeing 15 districts each. Not only was it cumbersome but was not practical and hence the government conceived the idea of such units at Mysuru and Kalaburagi of which the Mysuru office has been inaugurated.
He told media persons that the turnover and trade in agricultural related products including seeds, fertilizers and agricultural implements was to the tune of ₹25,000 crore and there was also the scourge of spurious products to crack down on for which vigilance cells were required.
The Mysuru office will have jurisdiction over Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Mangaluru Hassan, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Udupi districts and the inauguration of the new cell is expected to act as a dampener to the sale of spurious products. ‘’In the last 2.5 years alone spurious products related to agriculture to the tune of ₹27 crore had been seized in raids and 276 cases have been filed. The government has also cancelled the licenses of 416 traders found guilty of duping the farmers while in 26 cases the court has imposed fines to the tune of ₹15.55 lakh, said Mr.Patil.
The Minister urged the farmers not to pay heed to rumours regarding shortage of fertilizers or seeds and said that there was adequate stock to cater to the projected requirement in the State.
Refuting suggestions that the government had reduced subsidy to the farmers, Mr. Patil cited a few examples to point out that the farmers were paying less than 50 per cent of the market rate of the inputs. With respect to sprinklers, the subsidy was to the tune of 90 per cent and for a sprinkler set costing ₹20,000, farmers were paying only ₹2,000.
Mr. Patil said the Government had not neglected the farmers and under the Raitha Vidyanidhi scheme, ₹269 crore had been released so far and nearly 7 lakh students had benefited. Similarly, in Mysuru district alone 2,31,615 farmers had benefited from the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and ₹421.61 crore had been released, he added.
With respect to reduction in cultivation of tobacco, the Minister said that the officials have been instructed to promote alternative crops including soyabeans, sunflower, maize etc. The area under tobacco cultivation was declining but at a slow rate and cannot be done overnight until the farmers are convinced, said Mr. Patil.
Minister for Cooperation and in charge of Mysuru district S.T.Somashekar, Chamundeshwari MLA G.T.Deve Gowda and senior officials of the Department of Agriculture from districts coming under Mysuru Revenue Division, were also present.
