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Pensions for Jaffna farmers and fishermen

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The Agriculture and Livestock Ministry will grant benefits of the farmer pension scheme implemented by the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board (AAIB) to a large number of farmers in the Jaffna district.

Nearly 6,948 farmers in Jaffna have obtained membership under this farmer pension scheme. Of them, 2,482 members have defaulted their instalments due to various socio-economic hardships, Director, Farmer Pension Scheme, Dudley Weerakkody told the Daily News yesterday.

On the directive of Minister S. B. Dissanayake, AAIB Chairman L. R. B. Dissanayake and several senior AAIB officials recently toured Jaffna to look into problems faced by farmers and provide speedy solutions to their problems.

He said the farmers had discussions with the officials and many farmers in Jaffna pledged to join the farmer pension scheme as new members. The majority of these farmers have failed to pay their instalments after they were displaced. The AAIB has provided an opportunity to the farmers to submit appeals and get their membership back.

During the past six months, nearly 300 farmers in Jaffna have obtained membership under the scheme. Farmer organisations in Jaffna are planning to enrol a large number of their members to this farmer pension scheme.

"There are nearly 60,000 farmers and 25,000 fishermen in Jaffna. The Agriculture Ministry will set up AAIB offices in Jaffna and other North-East areas to provide the benefits of this scheme to a large number of farmers."

The AAIB has also introduced a pension scheme for fishermen. The benefits granted to farmers will also be granted to the fishermen. Rs. 50,000 insurance coverage is included in both these schemes. In addition, steps will be taken for livestock development in Jaffna.

The objective of the AAIB is to provide maximum relief measures to the farmers in Jaffna. The AAIB will review sympathetically the instances where farmers have lost membership of this farmer pension scheme.

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