This announcement includes a one-time waiver of about Rs. 140 crore along with an annual relief of Rs. 54 crore providing a benefit to farmers of 4299 villages
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh, February 24 -
In the span of the last nine and a half years, with the key feature of ‘commitment to action’, the Manohar Lal-led Haryana Government has consistently ensured the well-being and prosperity of the State's farmers. Through the introduction of innovative schemes, the present state government has continuously worked towards uplifting farmers.
Taking a step further, the Government had now decided to stop the levying of ‘abianahas’ on supply of canal water to farmers from the time of British rule from April 1, 2024. This step will mean a one-time waiver of about Rs. 140 crore along with an annual relief of Rs. 54 crore providing a benefit to farmers of 4299 villages. The Chief Minister had made the said announcement while presenting the budget for the Financial Year 2024-25.
Notably, in the history of Haryana, the practice of charging for canal water supply has never been abolished. Year after year, this practice has continued. For the first time under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal, the present state government has taken the step of discontinuing this practice. With this historic decision, the government has worked towards economically empowering the farmers by ending the tradition carried forward from British rule.
According to the financial year 2022-23, in the list of major districts, Hisar district has a pending abiana of Rs. 31.23 crore for 349 villages. Similarly, 320 villages of Kaithal have a pending amount of Rs. 19.90 crore, 417 villages of Bhiwani have a pending amount of Rs. 17.13 crore, 395 villages of Sirsa have pendency of Rs. 12.48 crore, 157 villages of Jhajjar have pendency of Rs. 6.94 crore, 229 villages of Charkhi Dadri have pendency of Rs. 6.09 crore and 171 in Nuh have a pendency of Rs. 5.98 crore.
With this historic announcement, now, the farmers in these villages will not have to pay abianahas. There are 16,932 outlets designated for irrigation purposes, and under the pending amount of canal water charges, approximately 24.11 lakh hectares of land assessed, including 12.19 lakh hectares for Rabi crops and 11.92 lakh hectares for Kharif crops. With the discontinuation of abianahas, farmers will now directly benefit by approximately Rs. 140 crore.