New Gujarat govt death compensation to farmers "not applicable" to landless, sharecroppers, tribal cultivators

Sagar Rabari

By A Representative
Gujarat's top farmers' leader Sabar Rabari has said that there is "nothing new" in the announcement made by deputy chief minister Nitin Patel regarding increase in accidental death compensation to farmers from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, and for serious injuries from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
In a statement, Rabari has pointed out that the announcement had been made several years ago when Anandiben Patel was Gujarat chief minister, adding, "In insofar as farmers are concerned, the government headed by the Vijay Rupani-Nitin Patel duo has proved itself to be a miser. Anandiben Patel had announced that the death compensation would be Rs 4 lakh. Instead of implementing her announcement, this government has reduced the amount by half."
Further, Rabari regretted, only those farmers and their families who have land titles in their name have been included for compensation. "The reality is, Gujarat has a large number of landless agricultural workers. Many of them also work on the farmers' fields as sharecroppers. One wonders, are they not farmers? Why have they not been included?"
Similarly, he adds, "A large number of tribal farmers of eastern belt of Gujarat have been handed over cultivation rights over the land they have been cultivating. The cultivation right certificates have a paper value. Most of these tribal farmers do not have any land entitlement, hence would be devoid of any compensation. Does the government not consider them farmers?"