Farmers Movement Archive

Favour DBT, but Centre should defer it this wheat season: BKU (Ugrahan)

Even as the Centre and the state governments slug it out over the payment method to be adopted for wheat procurement, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahana), the largest farmer rights’ organisation in Punjab, has supported the direct payment mode to cultivators, bypassing the arthiyas or middlemen. However, union general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said on Monday that keeping in view of ongoing farmers’ agitation, which arthiyas have also joined, the Centre should postpone implementing direct benefit transfer (DBT) for the time being.He added that in the larger interest of wheat growers, the Centre should drop the clause of submission of land record, as a prerequisite of payment. “Since Punjab government has no official database to distinguish between cultivators and farmland owners, DBT would be jeopardised, if it is implemented forcibly. In this wheat season, the government should release payments through arthiyas and Punjab should build land record data to implement direct payment. This will benefit cultivators,” he added.He clarified that BKU’s demand of payment for wheat through arthiyas was meant to ensure it does not create a division in the agitation. Kokrikalan added that the call to gherao Food Corporation of India (FCI) offices in districts of Punjab on Monday saw a huge response from the agrarian community. “Farmer unions did not seek support of arthiyas, but they joined the agitating farmers for their own survival. Hundreds of workers are also dependent upon them for mandi work. The government should provide easy loans for cultivators to get rid of the unwanted arthiya system,” said Kokrikalan.He added that the conventional method of making payment to middlemen in foodgrain system is irrational and indicated exploitation of farmers. Indian agriculture is a rare exception where the producer is deprived of direct payment and practise should be stopped, he added.“Most arthiyas are unscrupulous moneylenders and there are instances of examples of them exploiting farmers. These moneylenders give loans on exorbitant interest and even manipulate record to exploit farmers. Our union is clear that cultivators have a natural right to get paid for their agricultural produce and must get the payment directly,” he added.

Hindustan Times

06-04-2021

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