Bareilly: Cheques were distributed to beneficiaries under the Chief Minister Farmer Accident Welfare Scheme during a programme held at the Collectorate auditorium in Bareilly in the presence of several public representatives and senior officials.
The event was attended by Uttar Pradesh Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister Dharampal Singh, Forest and Environment Minister Dr Arun Kumar, District Panchayat Chairperson Rashmi Patel, Legislative Council Member Bahoran Lal Maurya, Mirganj MLA Dr D.C. Verma, Bithri Chainpur MLA Dr Raghvendra Sharma, BJP Bareilly District President Sompal Sharma and BJP Aonla District President Adesh Pratap Singh.
During the programme, public representatives handed over financial assistance cheques to the beneficiaries and families covered under the farmer accident insurance scheme.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Dharampal Singh said that the scheme was launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on September 14, 2019, to provide direct online financial assistance to farmers and their families in case of accidental death or disability.
He explained that the scheme is applicable to Uttar Pradesh residents between 18 and 70 years of age, including landholding farmers, co-landholders, earning family members dependent on agricultural income, and landless farmers engaged in farming through leased or sharecropped land.
The minister said the scheme provides financial assistance of up to Rs 5 lakh in cases of accidental death or complete physical disability. Assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh is provided for partial disabilities such as loss of one limb or one eye, while compensation of Rs 1.25 lakh is available in cases where permanent disability ranges between 25 and 50 percent.
He further informed that applications related to accidental death or disability must be submitted by the family members at the concerned tehsil within 90 days, or within 180 days with approval from the District Magistrate in exceptional circumstances.
District Magistrate Avinash Singh stated that the application process under the scheme has now been made online and simplified for the convenience of beneficiaries.
He said that since the launch of the scheme, financial assistance amounting to Rs 72.478 crore has been distributed to the dependents of 1,496 deceased farmers in Bareilly district. During the current programme, financial assistance worth Rs 6.73 crore was distributed among the families of 137 deceased or differently-abled farmers.
Senior officials including Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Purnima Singh, Additional District Magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Santosh Kumar Singh, Additional District Magistrate (City) Avinash Tripathi and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sadar were also present at the event.
Reported by Akhilesh Chandra Saxena.
