Agri dept’s e-Krishi service set to sow seeds of relief among ryots

Panaji: Ushering the state’s farmers into the modern world of e-governance, the Goa agriculture department has launched the e-Krishi service for the speedier sanctions of agricultural subsidies, and other related schemes to Goan farmers.
Director of the agriculture department, Orlando Rodrigues, said that earlier, the department accepted applications only in hard copy from farmers for any scheme of subsidy.But now, it has registered all of the 22,000-odd farmers in the state and provided each one with a Krishi card. Embedded on these cards are electronic chips which contain all information about the farmer and his land holdings.
So, anytime a farmer wants to apply for assistance or a subsidy from the government, he does not have to produce all the documents of land ownership and other related details. “He only has to give the card number, the name of the scheme and produce the bills of the purchases he made for which subsidy is required. This information will be uploaded and provided to a ‘kissan mitra’ designated to visit village panchayat offices to assist farmers,” Rodrigues explained.
“This will be very farmer-friendly. Farmers will not have to produce several documents nor will they have to make many trips to the department. If they are computer-savvy, they will be able to track the status of their applications online,” he added.
The project has been launched in collaboration with Goa Electronics Limited (GEL), the firm that has helped launch most of the state’s e-services.
Presently, the department has implemented the e-Krishi service for support price applications for paddy, coconut, sugarcane and arecanut among others. Gradually, every scheme of the department will be brought under the e-Krishi umbrella. Approvals and sanctions up to the level of the director will be given online. “This will speed up the process of giving subsidies to farmers which, today, take between three to six months,” Rodrigues said.
The new initiative will also allow agricultural officers more time to carry out inspections. For instance, they will now find time to verify if a well has really been dug, if bills correspond to the purchases made, if pumps have really been installed, etc, without having to prepare bulky paper reports anymore.