Farmers Movement Archive

Farm bills 2020: Farmer protests hit paddy purchase, sale in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar

Farmer protests over the three farm bills recently passed by Parliament have affected the procurement and sale of paddy in Uttarakhand, especially in Haridwar where most of the crop is grown. Farmers associated with Bharatiya Kisan Union factions of Tikait, Ambawat, Tomar, Ridh and Uttarakhand Kisan Morcha are protesting across the state, particularly in the plain region farm belts of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. Also read: Stubble burns, farmers from Haryana say they have no optionPaddy procurement centres, run by the food and civil supplies department and Uttarakhand State Cooperative Federation Limited (UCF), have seen an abysmal footfall since they opened on Thursday. Farmer union representatives said they were busy holding protests, sit-ins and blocking highways, leaving them no time to queue up at paddy procurement centres. In addition, they are expected to register through e-portals -- something they are not used to. Till last year, cooperative committees were involved in procuring the produce from farmers but now it is done through food and civil supplies department and the UCF. In the paddy-growing area of Haridwar, there are 17 procurement centres; seven of the UCF and the rest of food and civil supplies department. A quick survey of these centres revealed that most of them saw just a handful of farmers visit in these two days.“Due to farmer agitation, all agriculture-related work has been affected. But, we have make that sacrifice. Farm bills are anti-farmer and the minimum procurement price is also low, farmers are voluntarily joining the agitation... paddy crops can be sold a few days late too,” said Rahul Chaudhary, a farmer leader from Bahadrabad. Farmers aren’t too happy with the minimum support price either. The government set Rs 1,868 per quintal for common grade paddy, and Rs 1,888 per quintal for grade A as the minimum support price. “The government should increase minimum support prices of crops, provide a subsidy, lower fertilizer costs and ensure proper procurement set-up. Farmers should have a bigger say in the process,” said Manglaur legislator Qazi Nizamuddin. On the low footfall, however, UCF officials said paddy crop was still being harvested and more farmers were expected now that the monsoon season was over.“Our centres are assisting farmers in every possible way so that this process is convenient and time-saving for them. Operators register farmers’ details coming for procurement and the payment gets credited into their accounts within a stipulated time frame. As our centres will remain open till December, footfall will increase in the coming days,” said Mangalaur and Paniylaa–Lathardeva procurement centre in-charge Rajendra Singh Bisht.

Hindustan Times

02-10-2020

Dehradun