The cheque, had the signature of Jitendra Kumar Sharma, the patwari.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday assured immediate compensation to a woman farmer whose crop was damaged due to unseasonal rain in the state. The woman received a cheque of Rs 50,000 the same day, however, it turned out to be from the personal account of a village patwari - a land records officer in rural areas.
The cheque, had the signature of Jitendra Kumar Sharma, the patwari.
The Chief Minister met the farmer, Rajkumari Bai, during his visit to village Bajawan in Ashoknagar district which was affected by rain and hailstorms. He was seen comforting the elderly woman who broke down while narrating her crop loss.
After inspecting the damage, Mr Chouhan directed the collector to complete the survey of the damage by January 18.
The relief amount is provided by the state government. Farmers are compensated for their crop loss by combining 'Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana' and the relief amount announced by the state.
The opposition has now criticised the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government for the goof-up.
Congress spokesperson KK Mishra has accused the state government of taking credit for the money spent by an administrative official.
"The government is taking credit for someone else's expenditure. The aid was provided by a public official but who got the credit for it?" wrote Mr Mishra in a tweet in Hindi.
The collector of Ashoknagar, Uma Maheshwari, however, denied having any knowledge as to how the first cheque by the lower bureaucracy was issued. "We have issued a cheque of Rs 50,000 and the cheque will be encashed by tomorrow," she said. The second cheque was issued by the Red Cross Society.
More than 50 percent of wheat, mustard, gram and lentil crops were damaged due to rain and hailstorm. The state government has announced a relief amount of Rs 30 thousand per hectare and the Chief Minister has said that 25 percent of the insurance amount will be paid in advance of the insured crop affected by the hailstorm. The remaining 75 percent will be paid by the insurance company to the farmers concerned after settlement.