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Payment delay keeps silk farmers away from government markets in KarnatakaThe government is aware of the unpaid dues Shruthi H M Sastry Last Updated 12 March 2021, 03:43 IST Ramanagara Silk
cocoon market. Credit: DH photo. Shivakumar, a silk farmer in Kanakapura, of late prefers to sell his produce to private dealers rather than going to the government cocoon market. The state
government has introduced an online payment system for directly depositing money into the accounts of farmers like Shivakumar. However, inordinate delay in payment coupled with rampant
irregularities are forcing several farmers like him further away from government markets. Farmers allege that they are often forced to make several trips to the markets over unpaid dues.
Their next best bet is to accept cash, for which they are asked to pay at least Rs 100 to local officials. ADVERTISEMENT "There is a minimum delay of over a fortnight in transferring
money. We need it to be credited immediately to buy manure and other raw materials for rearing cocoons. Hence, we are now banking on local dealers. They give us cash immediately and buy
cocoons at competitive prices. That these dealers are making transactions of nothing less than two tonnes every day gives a glimpse into how several farmers have stopped going to the
government market," Shivakumar narrated. The government is aware of the unpaid dues. In a written response to the Legislative Council recently, the government acknowledged the delay in
transactions from at least a month. The delay was a result of technical glitches caused by merger of a few banks, it said. However, farmers said the problem was a longstanding issue.
Apparently, silk farmers coming to the Ramanagara cocoon market are the worst-hit with dues pending over a year. "Instead of immediately transferring money into farmers' accounts,
some reelers assure to make payments through private payment portals. Others give cheques. In the end, we end up making several trips to the market to claim the dues," one farmer
explained. There are farmers coming from far-off districts including Haveri, Gadag, Raichur, Kalaburagi and Davangere to sell cocoons. When contacted, government's sericulture secretary
Rajender Kumar Kataria said the department had already held meetings in this regard and the issue would be resolved soon. Nonetheless, these instances were not the norm and were hardly 0.5%
of cases, he maintained. While the department had not made it mandatory for all the reelers to have an e-wallet, it would onboard everyone this fiscal. At present, online transactions
accounted for 30-40% of overall transactions, according to Kataria.