Sonepur: A satellite survey has uncovered false cultivation of paddy crops on 12,776 plots by some unscrupulous farmers and landowners in Subarnapur district. Reportedly, hundreds of farmers, including landowners, had registered their names with the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) and women SelfHelp Groups (SHGs) to sell their harvested paddy and grab the government benefits for paddy cultivation in this kharif season.
After the allegations, a satellite survey was conducted by the state Revenue, Agriculture, and Cooperative departments. Subsequently, their lies have been exposed by the survey. The farmlands they had mentioned in their registration were found to be grasslands, barren lands, open grounds, and water bodies with no sign of any cultivation. During registration, the farmers mentioned that paddy cultivation had been carried out on 12,959 plots in Subarnapur district. However, the satellite survey has unmasked the truth. Reports said that paddy cultivation was carried out on 77,389 hectares of farmlands in Subarnapur district during the 2022–23 kharif season.
As many as 65,523 farmers registered their names with the PACS and women SHGs to sell their harvested paddy. As per the rules, the farmers had submitted all details regarding their lands during the registration. However, it was alleged that paddy cultivation was not done on as many lands as in previous years and that some unscrupulous and dishonest individuals were attempting to sell their paddy stocks at government rates. The Revenue department took the allegations into cognizance and directed the revenue inspectors (RIs) and village agricultural workers (VAWs) to conduct field visits and take stock of paddy cultivation. The RIs and VAWs visited their respective areas and cancelled the registration of farmlands where there was no paddy cultivation.
However, due to lack of workforce, thousands of hectares of farmlands in the district were not thoroughly investigated. Subsequently, the government decided to conduct a satellite survey and get proper details of the farmlands. Satellite survey found that no paddy cultivation was carried out on 12,959 plots in the district. To make the survey free from any error, the state government directed the District Collector to ask revenue and cooperative officials to conduct field visits and submit their reports in this regard.
As many as 206 employees visited the plots had raised doubts during the satellite survey. They clicked the photographs of the lands where no cultivation was undertaken and uploaded them to the departmental website.
According to the survey, no paddy cultivation was carried out on 12,776 plots. The wrongdoings were committed by unscrupulous farmers and landowners in Dunguripalli, Binka, Tarava, Birmaharajpur, Ulunda, and Sonepur blocks. Many unscrupulous people sell paddy without any actual cultivation. Paddy was purchased from the farmers through a satellite survey conducted in eight districts, including Subaranapur district, in the 2021–22 kharif season. The state government has also made plans for the 2022-23 kharif season in all 30 districts.