Farmers who live in Rajasthan, till in MP caught up in border blame game

The farmers say that the agricultural land is within the limits of MP state, but due to the rest of the documents being from Rajasthan, they face problems in getting the benefits of central and state schemes.

Pratapgarh (Rajasthan):The farmers living in the border areas of Pratapgarh district are in a fix as their fields fall right on the border between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Farmers who live in Rajpuria, the last village in Rajasthan, have to work in fields that officially fall in Madhya Pradesh. As such, they find it difficult to avail the benefits of government schemes in their home state. Time and again, the farmers have given memorandums to the public representatives and the Rajasthan administration demanding a permanent solution to the problem but to no avail.

As many as 20 farmer families, all residents of Rajpuria, are caught up in this dilemma. Disappointed by the Rajasthan administration, they even attempted to reach out to the officials in MP, who too had no answers for them. The farmers say that the agricultural land is within the limits of MP state, but due to the rest of the documents being from Rajasthan, they face problems in getting the benefits of central and state schemes including making KCC (Kisan Credit Card).

During rainy days, their issue aggravates as the nearby stream cutting through the states swells up leaving them unable to reach the fields. "The situation is such that if the farmer is at his home in the rain, he is not able to reach the fields, and if he is in the fields, he has to spend the night in the fields as he cannot cross the stream since there is no bridge," one of the farmers said.

Rajasthan and MP governments have not been able to decide over the construction of the bridge and have, according to the farmers, been playing a blame game whenever they approach them. "Politicians come to take votes at the time of elections. After that, no one even looks here, because we live in a village adjacent to Madhya Pradesh. Being connected to the border of Madhya Pradesh is becoming a curse for us," the farmer said.