Fest brings little cheer for Kerala's rubber farmers

KOTTAYAM: The rubber farmers in the district are passing through trying times during Onam as they are yet to get the money due to them as per the price stability scheme for June. As per the scheme, farmers will be reimbursed the difference in the support price which was fixed at Rs 150 per kilogram and the market price if they submitted receipts and other details of the rubber sold after registering at the rubber societies concerned.

Many farmers said they had given the bills but had not been paid.  “Though we have given the bills, we are yet to get the reimbursement amount. This has put our preparations for Onam in jeopardy,” said K.J. Varkey, Kochuparampil, a smallscale farmer from Aruvikuzhy. Raju Mathew, a farmer from Pallikathodu, complained that he had not received reimbursements for the last three months.
Interestingly, rubber production societies complained that they failed to register the bills on the online portal.

“The bills for July are not getting uploaded due to some technical reasons. And as a result many applications were pending,” E.P. Mathew, secretary of the Aruvikuzhy rubber production society told DC. Meanwhile, Rubber Board authorities claimed there was a “technical delay” in the state government granting the Rs 300 crores allocated in the state budget. “However, it has been rectified and the money will be given shortly,” Jayadev Anand, who is coordinating the allocation of the funds at the Board, told DC.