Punjab’s first two direct benefit transfer (DBT) beneficiaries — Tarlochan Singh (48) of Rupnagar district’s Bhurara village and Dalip Singh (39) of Patiala’s Neelpur village — were all praise for the new system, saying the arhtiyas (commission agents) need not be apprehensive of the central government’s scheme.
“I feel happy as I got the payment within 48 hours of procurement of my crop. I sold my wheat produce in the grain market on Sunday. Besides, I am excited for having become the first beneficiary of the scheme in the state,” said Tarlochan, who received ₹1.58 lakh in his account on Tuesday morning.
“Earlier, it used to take 7- 10 days for the payment transfer. But this has come with a responsibility as now I have to manage the funds myself and not the arhtiya who did it in the past. Now we have to be careful about our spending as we do not have anyone to fall back on. But we will get used to the new system,” added the farmer who owns 10 acre agriculture land and has sold only a portion of his produce.
Dalip Singh said he felt empowered as the old system has finally changed. “The arhtiyas used to delay payments to farmers for weeks and sometimes months and it led to overcharging and fleecing. There is no worry of being fleeced now. But the commission agents should not be worried as the age-old farmer-arhtiya relationship is here to stay. Farmers reposed faith in the arhtiyas for decades. The tables have turned now and it is their turn,” said the 39-year-old who received ₹1.48 lakh payment.
{{/usCountry}}Dalip Singh said he felt empowered as the old system has finally changed. “The arhtiyas used to delay payments to farmers for weeks and sometimes months and it led to overcharging and fleecing. There is no worry of being fleeced now. But the commission agents should not be worried as the age-old farmer-arhtiya relationship is here to stay. Farmers reposed faith in the arhtiyas for decades. The tables have turned now and it is their turn,” said the 39-year-old who received ₹1.48 lakh payment.
{{/usCountry}}Punjab food and civil supplies minister, who announced the names of the two beneficiaries, said the new system has been launched in the state successfully and all hiccups will be removed by the end of this week.
The Centre has mandated DBT for payment of minimum support price (MSP) for farmers and insisted that the Punjab government implement it from the current rabi season. The state government was reluctant to implement the new system due to pressure exerted by the arhtiyas.