Farmers Movement Archive

Lack of hands, strike: Why wheat procurement hit hurdle in Haryana

GURUGRAM: Having hit several hurdles in the past 25 days, Haryana has been able to procure around 65% of the wheat from mandis but facilitated only 29% of payments to middlemen and farmers. This is in sharp contrast to the situation in Punjab, where wheat procurement is almost double that of Haryana despite the hurdles being similar. Both Haryana and Punjab had been battling the same set of challenges in the procurement process — shortage of workers, restrictions on transportation and limited entry of farmers to mandis. Though the plan of response was similar, too, Punjab managed to iron out differences much faster than its neighbour. The difference in approach lay in the coordination with middlemen, management of workers and the resultant support from agents, said farmers’ unions. “It’s (Haryana’s) a clear case of mismanagement and lack of planning. Tussle with commission agents, lifting issues, shortage of labourers and non-payment, among others, have been major failures this season. Also, many of the mandis are not functional,” said Rajiv Godra of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee. Initial effortsDespite a staggered start amid challenges brought in by the lockdown, Punjab was relatively quicker in addressing its issues. With social distancing and other safety protocols in place, Punjab increased the number of procurement centres — around 280 for mustard and close to 1,800 for wheat. This made it easier for farmers to visit the mandis and the footfall, too, was divided evenly. School grounds, stadiums, rice mills and other such public places were converted into procurement centres. Helplines were activated for updates on timing and the location of procurement and token system introduced for farmers. It is only now that the Haryana government has picked up pace in its procurement process. “Wheat procurement has been happening under extremely challenging circumstances. We had been preparing for this. First, the meri fasal, mera bora scheme helped us in mapping the farmers in the state. After that, the number of procurement centres was increased four times. Through helpline numbers, our officials ensured the proper arrival of farmers, quick auctioning, lifting and payment to the arhtiyas. Yes, there were some initial challenges but we overcame all of that. Today, we are in a position where 6.6 million metric tonnes of wheat has been procured,” Haryana additional chief secretary (agriculture and farmers’ welfare and cooperation) Sanjeev Kaushal said. ChallengesDespite these efforts, the procurement exercise left many a farmers and arhtiyas disgruntled in the state. Differences in the approach of the Punjab and Haryana governments were evident from the beginning itself. While Punjab began procurement from April 15, Haryana started it five days later. Only a few days into the exercise, procurement came to a halt in Haryana. From shortage of labourers to repeated strikes by arhtiyas, and from tardy lifting of produce from the mandis to the failure of the government in keeping its promise of a 72-hour payment window, procurement hit several hurdles. The process hit the first roadblock when the government sought to bring in transparency in the minimum support price. The move was strongly opposed by the commission agents, who feared losing control over the farmers. In Punjab, however, the government used the network of the arhtiyas to fix issues of shortage of labourers and ensure farmers arrived at the mandis in a systematic manner. In Haryana, wheat purchase had to be stopped for several days until the government bowed down and went for a compromise with the middlemen. The state government wanted to tweak the system of paying the middlemen first and then the farmers. It, instead, wanted to pay the farmers directly and sought to settle the dues of the middlemen later. The decision triggered a three-day strike by the middlemen and the entire procurement had to be stopped. A sudden spell of rain coupled with staggered lifting of produce from the mandis also hit farmers hard. A portion of the wheat that got drenched in the rain affected the weighing process as moisture content in the grain had increased. “Those who had good connections with officials didn’t suffer, but marginal farmers had to let go 3-4kg from every 50kg sack. It was mismanagement on the part of the administration, but it is the farmers who had to pay the penalty,” said Dharambir Singh of All India Kisan Sabha. Lifting of crop from the mandis is managed by Hafed and Haryana Warehousing Corporation (HWC). They, in turn, have over 450 contractors to take the produce to warehouses. This time, however, the contractors have pleaded helplessness in providing timely services due to the shortage of labourers. Moreover, despite the Haryana government’s promise of paying arthiyas and farmers within 72 hours of procurment, only 29% of the payments have been processed so far. The 23,000 registered arhtiyas in the state have raised a demand of Rs 12, 372 crore, but only Rs 3, 709 crore has been made so far to over 12,500 middlemen. PK Das, additional chief secretary (food, civil supplies and consumer affairs), said, “We wanted to bring transparency and give greater control to farmer over the price of their produce. Arhtiyas took it the other way round and feared disruption of their networking with farmers. We negotiated with them as transparency cannot be done away with. Also, lifting was an issue due to shortage of workers. But we have fixed that now. About 40-45 lakh tonnes of wheat had been lifted till Wednesday.” Asked about the delay in payments, Das said, “We have come up with hybrid system to make payments. All payments till April 25 have been cleared. Payments for the produce purchased between April 26 and May 5 is being facilitated and will be completed in couple of days.

The Times of India

2020-05-17

Gurgaon