Farmers Movement Archive

Growers upset as snag in govt portals delays procurement

AMBALA: Amid the ongoing paddy procurement, farmers of the district are facing inconvenience as Meri Fasal-Mera Byora (MFMB) and e-Kharid portals have gone slow due to server issues and some of them are waiting for gate passes to bring their produce to the Ambala City grain market for the last several days. Demanding smooth procurement of paddy, the farmers have been protesting under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), Haryana for about one week now at the city grain market. They alleged that the government is intentionally harassing farmers with delay tactics, so that they are forced to sell their paddy to private players. Harkesh Singh of Teja Mohri village said, “Since the very start of paddy procurement, the MFMB and e-Kharid portals of the government are not working properly. They are harassing and forcing us to sell our produce privately. In one instance, a farmer registered about 250 quintals of paddy on MFMB portal, but he received the message for procurement of only one quintal.” Another farmer Jai Singh of Jalbera village said, “After our continuous protest, senior officials visited the Ambala City mandi and promised to take paddy with 19% moisture after relaxing the condition from 17%, but on Wednesday, they again started insisted on procurement of paddy with 17% moisture only.” Ambala City market committee secretary Asha Rani said, “There is some problem in the MFMB website in entire Haryana. It is running slow, which is taking more time to process the requests. We have faced problems in issuing timely gate passes to the farmers and it has been communicated to the senior officials. It is a new portal and may take some time to run smoothly. Gate passes are not being denied, but it is taking time.” In protest against the inconvenience faced by the farmers, arhtiyas and labourers, Ambala City MLA Aseem Goel on Wednesday staged a protest outside Haryana Vidhan Sabha for about one hour against additional chief secretary (ACS) P K Das of Haryana food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department. The MLA alleged, “The government has made pro-people policies, but due to one official’s dictatorial behaviour, the farmers, traders and labourers of the state are facing harassment. I will stage another protest on Monday if the arrangements do not improve.” Responding to the charges, ACS Das said, “The government has made good arrangements for Kharif season procurements. As for the protest by the MLA, it is his political activity, and being a government official, I do not want to comment on that.”

The Times of India

2020-10-08

Chandigarh