Farmers Movement Archive

Procurement begins, but no end to worries of farmers in Haryana

Though the Haryana government claimed to have started paddy procurement on Sunday, there was no end to farmers’ worries as large quantities of the grain awaited procurement despite arriving in the mandis.As per reports, procurement agency officials visited different mandis across the state but did not procure the paddy, barring from a few farmers, due to high moisture content.A commission agent from Kurukshetra’s Ladwa grain market said, “We have around 800 quintals of paddy lying in our shop but not even a single grain was procured on Sunday.”Chaos outside mandis as farmers turn up without registrationLong queues of tractor-trailers were seen at the entrance of the mandis since morning as farmers turned up without prior registration on the e-kharid portals. Due to this, they had to wait for several hours to get temporary gate passes. As per the laid down procedure, SMSes were sent to registered farmers, inviting them to the mandis on a pre-scheduled date and time for procurement, but many turned up without registration as started pressuring the administration officials to let them in.Jashmer Singh, a farmer from Ladwa, said, “I had brought my produce on September 19 as the government had earlier announced to start procurement from September 25 but later postponed it. Now, they should procure our produce on priority as we have been waiting here for more than a week.” Scheduled procurement is a pre-condition for direct payment of the minimum support price (MSP). Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board chief administrator Vinay Yadav said fresh directions have been issued that farmers who have brought their produce to mandis without registration will have to obtain an invite or schedule on the e-kharid portal. “Meanwhile, to avoid long queues outside mandis, temporary gate passes have been issued to farmers but procurement will take place only as per schedule,” he added. Haryana State Agriculture Marketing Board’s zonal administrator Gagandeep Singh said, “Procurement has started in all grain markets of Karnal as per schedule. If a farmer has missed their scheduled procurement slot, then alternative arrangements will be made as per the government’s directions.” Meanwhile, light rain in different parts of Ambala caused some worry though farmers said they were able to sell their produce in a hassle-free manner. Ambala deputy commissioner Vikram appealed to farmers to bring their crops as per schedule to avoid any problems. The state government has set a target of procuring around 60 lakh MT of paddy from around 200 purchase centres this year. But officials associated with the agencies say that procurement may exceed the target due to an increase in the area under cultivation of parmal varieties. As per official data, over 40% of area under paddy cultivation, that is 5,84,000 hectares, is growing the parmal varieties.According to commission agents, the delay in procurement and lifting may create a glut in mandis. Haryana BKU president Gurnam Singh Charuni has demanded that the order for scheduled procurement in all mandis is withdrawn. He also said that the government should increase the per acre limit from 25 quintals. In a videos message, Charuni also asked farmers to break the gates of the mandis if the officials do not allow them to enter the grain markets in the name of schedule or gate passes. (with inputs from Bhavey Nagpal)

Hindustan Times

04-10-2021

Chandigarh