Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced input subsidy benefit to 4.47 lakh state farmers and the amount will be directly credited into their bank accounts.

Disclosing the details at an interactive video conference session with the Deputy Commissioners and Zilla Panchayath Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the state on April 18, the chief minister released Rs 265 Crore for the purpose and enabled the online process for deposition of the benefit amounts directly into bank accounts of farmers.

The state government had released Rs 671 Crore earlier to benefit 12.03 lakh farmers for the purpose and with today’s release the subsidy amount touched Rs 936 Crore.

He took officials to task for not uploading the names and details of all eligible farmers, who suffered crop losses due to severe drought conditions.

Input subsidy benefit details in brief

The existing norms under both National and State Disaster Response Fund provide for assistance to the farmers in the form of Agriculture Input Subsidy (where crop loss is 50% and above) for damage caused to all types of agriculture and horticulture cropped areas due to the notified natural calamity. These are Rs 4500 per hectare for rain fed crops, Rs 9000 per hectare of assured irrigated crops, subject to minimum assistance not less than Rs 750 and restricted to sown areas and Rs 12000 per hectare for all type of perennial crops, subject to minimum assistance not less than Rs 1500 restricted to sown areas, where crop loss is more than 50 percent and above.