Chandigarh, August 6
The Sirsa MP, Former Union Minister, AICC General Secretary and Congress Working Committee (CWC) Member Kumari Selja has alleged that the Haryana Government has trapped farmers and the general public in a maze of online portals and complicated procedures. She said technology should be used to make governance easier, but repeated portal failures, technical glitches and complex rules have instead become a source of hardship. The government, she said, must comprehensively review the portal-based system, simplify procedures and ensure that no citizen or farmer is denied any legal entitlement or government benefit because of technical issues.
Referring to the ongoing kharif season, Selja said the shutdown of the Meri Fasal Mera Byora portal has caused widespread concern among farmers. According to published figures, around 67.35 lakh acres have been sown in Haryana, while crop details for only 57.56 lakh acres have been uploaded, leaving nearly 9.79 lakh acres yet to be registered. She said the timing of the disruption was particularly worrying as crop registration is mandatory for government procurement and several agriculture-related schemes.She noted that with the registration deadline approaching, verification and other formalities for a large number of farmers remain incomplete. If technical problems prevent timely registration, farmers should not be penalised, she said.
Selja urged the government to extend the registration deadline and provide an offline alternative until the portal is fully operational. She added that the problem is not confined to the agriculture portal alone. Similar complaints of slow or non-functional portals have surfaced in tehsils and various government departments, forcing citizens to make repeated visits for registration and other essential services. Digital governance, she said, is meaningful only when it saves citizens’ time.
“If server failures compel people to wait for hours or return repeatedly over several days, accountability must be fixed,”, Selja said, while adding, that the government continues to shift more public services to digital platforms without making procedures simple and accessible. Many people still require outside assistance to complete applications or upload documents, while rural areas continue to face internet and digital infrastructure limitations. She stressed that practical offline alternatives must remain available so that work does not come to a standstill because of technical failures.
Selja maintained that technology should assist governance rather than become an obstacle. The government, she said, should define departmental accountability for portal failures, set clear timelines for resolving technical issues, extend the crop registration deadline and ensure that farmers whose registrations are delayed due to technical reasons do not lose procurement benefits or other agricultural assistance.
Selja urged the Haryana Government to understand the genuine difficulties being faced by farmers and ordinary citizens, simplify portal procedures, strengthen digital infrastructure and make officials accountable. She said that the Governance is meant to serve the people, not leave them struggling with portals and procedures.