After prolonged discussions, the rubber production incentive scheme is now at the implementation level.
About 10 lakh small and marginal rubber growers will benefit from this scheme.
“The subsidy under the scheme can be a support to the growers if it is implemented properly without any delay as other agencies including Rubber Board and Rubber Producers’ societies are also involved in its processing,” Zachariah Thomas, a small grower from Meenachil told BusinessLine.
“However it is a temporary relief to the small and marginal growers who are in need of immediate assistance. It definitely shows the earnestness of the Government to help rubber growers to tide over a critical period. More than that it does not have any impact on the plantation industry as a whole,” said, Joy Nadukkara, ex-MP and a spokesman of the small growers.
Most of the growers have not resumed tapping which they had discontinued. In some areas there were attempts to cut down the trees. A few months ago, a grower committed suicide after writing a letter that he would not have died if the rubber price had been ₹150/ a kg.
The growers who own 5 ha of land are eligible for the scheme.
The area under tapping would be limited to 2 ha of rubber for each applicant and it would be fixed to 1800 kg per hector per year.
The subsidy will be disbursed once in two weeks through the bank account of the rubber growers. Government had already published the guidelines for the rubber production incentive scheme.
Though ₹300 crores included in the budget is not a big amount, it will be a big help to the rubber growing community.
– The Hindu
