JHANG: Patwaris of various villages have allegedly taken bribe for including names of ineligible paddy and cotton farmers in the lists of those who suffered heavy losses, making controversial the distribution of compensation amount under the prime minister kissan package.

The package was announced by the prime minister to compensate those growers who had suffered heavy losses due to unprecedented drop in the market price of paddy and cotton crops.

The district administration was assigned the task to prepare the lists of the affected farmers.

Jhang DCO Nadir Chattha had warned revenue officials that indulgence in malpractice would not be tolerated, but patwaris started minting money.

The patwaris also entered the names of ineligible growers in the lists of affected farmers on the recommendation of influential politicians.

Some genuine affectees pointed out names of many ineligible beneficiaries when the lists of eligible persons were displayed outside the district administration offices on Friday.

Farmer rights activists Kamran Saqi and Naveen Sadhana lodged a complaint with the district administration that the Pirkot Sadhana patwari had entered the names of several persons who never cultivated paddy or cotton crops.

They pointed out that the patwari had included the names of only those genuine persons who had made a commitment with the patwari to give him a share of compensation money.

They further alleged that although the relief package was meant only for farmers having less than 12 acres of land, the patwaris also included the names of landlords with 25 acres or more after taking bribe from them.

Muhammad Nawaz of Chak 177 said he had cultivated 11 acres of paddy but the patwari demanded a big percentage of relief money. He said on his refusal, the patwari entered the name of an ineligible farmer, Allah Yar.

The affected growers have urged DCO Nadir Chattha to form a committee to scrutinize the lists prepared by patwaris.

A spokesman for the district administration said this was for the first time that the PML-N government had announced a massive relief package for the welfare of affected farmers.

He said although the lists were prepared in a transparent manner in most of the villages in Jhang district, strict action would be taken against officials found involved in any malpractice.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2015