Revised SOP for Implementation of Krishak Bandhu (AI) Scheme

Government of West Bengal
Department of Agriculture
NABANNA
325, Sarat Chatterjee Road, Howrah – 711 102.

No. 1355-AG/O/9M(Nab)-22/2019 Dated, Howrah the, 1st January, 2021

From: Joint Secretary to the Govt. of West Bengal

To: 1. The Director of Agriculture & EOS, West Bengal

2. Deputy Director of Agriculture (Admn) ………….. Districts (All)

Subject: Revised SOP for implementation of Krishak Bandhu (AI) Scheme – regarding.

Ref.: This department Memo No: 1324-AG/0/9M(Nab)-22/2019 dated 24/12/2020.

Sir,

In reference to the above, I am directed to forward herewith the Revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for implementation of Krishak Bandhu (Assured Income) Scheme to be effective from the current Rabi season.

This is for your kind information and taking necessary action.

Enclosures: As stated

Yours faithfully

Joint Secretary
to the Govt. of West Bengal

Government of West Bengal
Agriculture Department

Revised SOP of Krishak Bandhu (Assured Income) Scheme

A. Overview:

The Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal Introduced the Krishak Bandhu (Assured Income) Scheme w.e.f. 1st January, 2019 to support farmers financially during preproduction stage to make agriculture profitable for the farmers. It is a powerful initiative of the Govt of West Bengal towards overall development of agriculture in general and protecting the farmers’ interest in particular.

In Krishak Bandhu (Assured Income) scheme every enrolled farmer is eligible to get financial support of Rs. 5000/- per year per acre of cultivable land owned, payable in two equal instalments i.e. @ Rs. 2500/- (Kharif & Rabi) once during Kharif and thereafter during Rabi season. The maximum financial assistance will be Rs.5000-/ only per farmer per year. Farmers having less than one acre of land will be eligible for assistance on pro rata basis subject to a minimum of Rs. 2000/- per farmer per year.

The Agriculture Department is the Nodal Department for implementation of this scheme and other allied Departments like L&LR, Finance, Cooperation, I&CA etc. extend cooperation in various aspects for its smooth implementation. The Webel (WBEIDC) is the nodal agency for maintaining the Krishak Bandhu Portal and managing the Krishak Bandhu database. The West Bengal State Co-operative Bank Ltd has been assigned the responsibilities of Fund Management and disbursement of assistance to the eligible beneficiaries.

The farmer has to apply for enrolment to the Asst. Director of Agriculture of the Block where his EPIC exists (except Kolkata Municipal Corporation Area).

The benefit of the Krishak Bandhu (Assured Income) Scheme was so far extended to all farmers in possession of ROR including recorded Bhagchasi (Share cropper). Although more than 48 lakh farmers have already been registered under the scheme, there is still scope for inclusion of more number of actual cultivators who do not possess ROR in their name.

In order to bridge this gap between number of cultivators and Farmers actually enrolled under the Scheme, the State Govt has taken a unique initiative to include maximum number of deserving farmers under this flagship scheme through submission of “Self Declaration” regarding tilling of agricultural land, in prescribed format along with supporting documents to the Asstt. Director of Agriculture of the Block without going into the procedural complexities of land mutation etc. as laid down in memo no. 1324-AG/O/9M(Nab)-22/2019 dt. 24/12/2020 of the Agriculture Department, Govt. of West Bengal.

Accordingly the existing SOP has been revised to accommodate the above changes and is laid down herein below.

B. Executive Committees at State, District & Block level:

1. The existing State Level Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary will be the apex body for overall policy formulation, supervision and monitoring of the Scheme:

2. The District level Implementation and Monitoring Committee (DLIMC) under the Chairmanship of the District Magistrate and comprising of the following officials shall supervise implementation of the scheme in the concerned district. The DLIMC will also take necessary measures for wide publicity for enrolment of all eligible farmers of the district.

DDA (Admin) may utilize the services of Asst. DA (Admin) & his establishment of the SubDivision for execution of the scheme.

3. The Block level Execution & Monitoring Committee (BLEMC) under the Chairmanship of the Block Development Officer and comprising of the following members will be responsible for successful implementation of the scheme at the Block level. The BLEMC will take responsibility of publicity, enrolment and disbursement of assistance etc. in the Block.

C. Eligibility:

All farmers having available documents of cultivable land will be eligible to apply. Photocopy of the following documents will have to be submitted by the applicant along with his/ her application in the prescribed format.

(i) In case of farmers having RoR or a recorded “Bhagchasi” (Share Cropper).

1. RoR of Cultivable Land/proof of Record in case of recorded Bhagchasi (Share cropper).
2. Voter ID card (mandatory): This is the control document, double entry cannot be done using the same EPIC.
3. Copy of the Bank pass book clearly showing IFSC and Account details of active bank account/ Cancelled Cheque.
4. Active Cell Phone Number.
5. Aadhar Card (Optional).

(ii) In case of farmers not having RoR in their names.

1. Self Declaration along with supporting documents as detailed in the prescribed format as per Annexure-IA (in English) or Annexure-IB (in Bengali). All documents must be self-attested by the applicant.
2. Voter ID card (mandatory): This is the control document, double entry cannot be done using the same EPIC.
3. Copy of the Bank pass book clearly showing IFSC and Account details of active bank account/ Cancelled Cheque.
4. Active Cell Phone Number.
5. Aadhar Card (Optional).

D. Process flow for Enrolment:

1) Immediately upon receiving the application, the authorized representative of the Asstt.DA (Block) assigned with app entry will check the enclosures and capture the details in Krishak Bandhu app for Pre-Registration and generation of acknowledgement ID. “Bangla Sahayata Kendra” may be the alternative gateway for Pre-Registration of intending farmers under Krishak Bandhu (AI) Scheme.

2) The authorized representative of the ADA (Block) assigned with the task of verification at the O/o the Asstt.DA (Block) will scrutinize app entry and verify all enclosures and enter relevant details into the Krishak Bandhu Portal.

3) The Asstt.DA (Block) will finally scrutinize and approve the application if found correct in all respect and generate Krishak Bandhu ID (KBID) for the said farmer.

4) Upon generation of Krishak Bandhu ID, the farmer’s name will appear in the ‘Approved List’ in the Krishak Bandhu portal and he/she will receive an SMS indicating the KBID No. In case the application of the farmer doesn’t stand scrutiny, the said application shall be rejected by the Asstt.DA (Block) stating reason for rejection and the farmer will receive an SMS indicating the reason for rejection.

5) In case of applications accepted on the basis of Self-Declaration submitted by the farmers in prescribed format, the Asstt.DA (Block) shall first consider the same and enroll the farmers if their documents are found in order. Thereafter, the Asstt.DA (Block) may forward the Self-Declarations along with the enclosure(s) to the BL&LRO for necessary verification of land possession status of the concerned farmers and endorsement with his/her comments.

6) After verification, the BL&LRO will return the applications along with his written observation to the Asstt.DA (Block), preferably, within fifteen days of receipt of the applications.

7) In case, the BL&LRO’s observation is found contrary to the claim made by the farmer in his/her Self-Declaration, the Asstt.DA (Block) shall suo moto cancel the enrolment of the concerned farmer and send a Notice to the farmer to return the assistance amount that may have been disbursed to him/her within fifteen days from the date of issue of such notice. If the concerned farmer fails to comply, proceedings may be started against him under Bengal PDR Act 1913 after passing a resolution to that effect in the BLEMC.

8) The Webel (WBEIDC) will generate the list of de-duplicated Eligible Beneficiaries from the ‘Approved List’ in the Krishak Bandhu Portal and send it to the West Bengal State Co-operative Bank Ltd. for payment of financial assistance through DBT in farmer’s Bank account.

9) The West Bengal State Co-operative Bank Ltd. (WBSCBL) will validate the Bank account details of the farmers and disburse the assistance through DBT in every season as per timeline to be fixed by the Agriculture Department. After disbursement, the WBSCBL shall share the Successful Transaction List and Failed Transaction List, if any, to the Deputy Director of Agriculture (Admn.) [DDA(Admn.)] of the respective districts for his/her record and to Webel (WBEIDC) for uploading in the Krishak Bandhu Portal.

10) The WBSCBL shall also share the Invalid Account details with the DDA(Admn.) who in turn will get the account details corrected by the respective Asstt.DA (Block) and forward the corrected account details to WBSCBL for necessary action as detailed at Sl. No. 9 above.

11) In case of any dispute the matter should be discussed in the BLEMC for taking appropriate decision. In case of huge turnout of cultivators, pooling in staff from other departments for timely and smooth implementation of the Scheme may be considered by the DLIMC

E. Grievance Redressal:

The Asstt. D.A. of the Block will act as the Grievance Redressal Officer at the Block level. Grievances, if any, should be taken up in the BLEMC for resolution. For matters outside the jurisdiction of the Block, the BLEMC may forward the same to the DLIMC whose decision shall be treated as final. Any matter pertaining to policy decision may be forwarded by the DLIMC to the Agriculture Department for consideration of the State Level Steering Committee.

Joint Secretary
Agriculture Department
Govt. of West Bengal

No. 1355-AG dated 01.01.2021, Source1, Source2