Farmers Movement Archive

Paddy procurement in Haryana, Punjab from today after stir

The Centre on Saturday issued an order to begin paddy procurement in Punjab and Haryana from October 3 after farmers, protesting against the delay in the procurement, clashed with police personnel in parts of the states.The decision was taken “in the interest of farmers”, the food ministry said in its order, days after it postponed the procurement of kharif paddy in Punjab and Haryana to October 11.The decision came hours after protesting farmers broke police barricades and faced water cannons, including near Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s house in Karnal, as they laid siege to residences of legislators and ministers in Punjab and Haryana.“I am directed to inform that, in the interest of the farmers, it has been decided to start procurement of paddy from October 3, 2021, in the state of Haryana and Punjab for 2021-22 kharif marketing season,” said a letter written by a Union food ministry official to the governments of Punjab and Haryana.Paddy should be procured as per the FAQ (fair and average quality) norms prescribed for the 2021-22 kharif marketing season, the letter said.In its earlier order on Thursday, the government said the procurement, which usually begins on October 1, will be postponed as the crop maturity is delayed and moisture content in fresh arrival is beyond permissible limits owing to heavy rainfall.The government “believes that the decision to start the procurement of paddy under MSP (minimum support price ) from October 3 in Punjab and Haryana is in the overall interest of farmers and consumers as well so as to accept paddy stock as per FAQ specifications to ensure quality procurement for millions of consumers under PDS of National Food Security Programme”, the food ministry said in a separate statement.The procurement operation is undertaken by the central government’s nodal agency Food Corporation of India (FCI) along with state agencies.The decision to revoke the earlier order was taken at a meeting of Union minister of state Ashwini Kumar Choubey and, Khattar and Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal in Delhi. “The procurement (of kharif crops) will start from tomorrow in Haryana as well as Punjab,” Choubey told reporters after the meeting.In Karnal, the Haryana Police used water cannons to disperse protesting farmers as they tried to gherao Khattar’s residence, while in Shahabad and Panchkula, the agitators used tractors to break police barricades to reach houses of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Haryana minister Sandeep Singh, officials said.The situation became tense in a few places in Haryana and Punjab after clashes broke out between farmers and the police.In several places in these states, farmers after reaching residences of ministers, legislators and MPs, parked their food grain-laden trolleys in front of their houses.In Punjab, farmers gathered outside the residences of several Congress legislators, including state assembly speaker Rana KP Singh in Rupnagar and MLA Harjot Kamal in Moga.While the BJP, in alliance with the Jannayak Janata Party, is in power in Haryana, the Congress is the ruling party in Punjab, and both state governments have urged the Centre to ensure farmers do not face any problem in paddy procurement.Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask government agencies to begin paddy procurement.The police said that there was no report of any “major” untoward incident from the two states. Police personnel were deployed in strength to maintain law and order, the officials said.Saturday’s protests have come on the back of a months-long stir by hundreds of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, against the Centre’s three farm laws. Several rounds of discussions between the farm unions and the government have failed to resolve the impasse.The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions which is also spearheading the agitation against the farm laws, gave a call on Friday for holding protests outside the residences of legislators in Punjab and Haryana to register their protest.After the Centre issued fresh orders, SKM called off that protest. “This is a victory of farmers’ united struggle,” the farmers’ body said in a statement.Haryana minister Anil Vij targeted the farmers, and said: “Farmers’ agitation is getting violent day by day. Violent movement in the country of Mahatma Gandhi cannot be allowed…”Paddy crop, though in small quantity, started arriving in mandis (markets) especially in border areas of Punjab, farmers said later in the day.(With agency inputs)

Hindustan Times

03-10-2021

India