Rubber planters who don’t have Aadhaar cards can still get subsidies from the Kerala government. Planters can register using other IDs from October 1 to 15 in their nearest Rubber Producers Society.
Aadhaar is a 12 digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the Government of India.
Rubber farmers were previously required their Aadhar to register through Kerala’s online subsidy scheme. The government saw this as a way to ward off false claims. But upon implementation, many rubber farmers complained about being excluded just because of having no Aadhar numbers.
Farmers can submit Election Commission’s identity car, driving license, Pan card or passport in the second phase of registering starting October 1. The software has been tweaked to accommodate the applications of the farmers without Aadhaar numbers.
The Kerala state government has set aside Rs 300 crore for the grant of subsidy to rubber farmers. Though about 2.5 farmers have registered with the programme, only half of these applications were vetted and approved of. Currently, subsidies are disbursed for the rubber sold in July.
The farmers whose applications have been approved are submitting bills through the rubber producers’ societies. However, there are complaints of a delay in the scrutiny of bills and subsequently, disbursement of subsidy. A shortage of field officers of the Rubber Board is adding to the delay as the staff is overworked.