ICAR sets up fact-finding panel to verify Doubling Farmers Income document

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in 2016 that income of farmers would double in five years i.e. by 2022. The time frame has lapsed, prompting opposition parties and farmers' organizations to raise questions regarding this claim.

At the same time, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) had released a document of 75,000 farmers whose income has doubled. But recently, in a media report, while doing ground investigation of those farmers, challenged the claims of ICAR.

Amid the latest debate over doubling farmers' income, ICAR has constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the facts and figures in the document. ICAR constituted the committee by issuing an office order on April 19. A copy of the order is in the possession of Rural Voice.

Under this committee, two teams each have been formed for Gurugram in Haryana and Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. The team will visit these places on April 20 to collect information and submit its report to the ministry on April 22.

It has been said in this order that the competent authority has constituted a fact-finding committee which will prepare its report after interacting with the identified farmers to find out the veracity of the facts of the document regarding doubling of farmers' income. Gurugram and Gautam Buddha Nagar have been selected for this. Two teams have been formed for both the places.

The chairperson of Team-1 of Gurugram will be Dr. Prem Lata Singh, former head (Extension), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), while the other member along with her will be Dr. Y.R. Meena, Additional Commissioner (Extension) in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The chairman of Team-II of Gurugram will be Dr VV Sadamate, former advisor (Agriculture), Planning Commission. The member accompanying him will be SK Mishra, Director (Extension), Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department.

The Chairman of Team-I for Gautam Buddha Nagar is Dr. J.P. Sharma, former Vice Chancellor of Skuast, Jammu, along with Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, as the other member.

In Team-II of Gautam Buddha Nagar, Dr. SK Singh, former PD (DKMA) is the chairman along with Dr. Venu Prasad, Joint Director (Extension) Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, as the other member.

According to the order, the committee members will go to the spot on April 20 and submit a report on April 22. Now it remains to be seen whether the ICAR committee is able to trace those farmers whose income has doubled or not. The issue of farmers' income is also politically important amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.