Farmers continued to suffer due to alleged delay in the procurement of paddy in Odisha with reports of peasants holding night-long protests over the issue by keeping paddy sacks on the road in Ganjam district for the past two days.
Hundreds of farmers from three Panchayats of Beguniapada Block in Ganjam, the home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, slept on the road throughout the night amid the winter chill protesting alleged inadequate procurement of paddy.
The agitating farmers alleged that though they repeatedly complained to the government officials, it yielded no result.
Similar protest over paddy procurement was seen in Dharakote block of Ganjam district with a large number of farmers from Jagmohan Panchayat holding protest in front of the local Tehsil office on Wednesday.
The agitators alleged that their paddy has not been procured from the mandi even though the validity of the tokens issued to them is going to end soon.
They alleged that though mandis were opened in Ganjam district on December 29, paddy of many farmers have not been procured yet. They added that millers are refusing to procure their paddy citing lack of fresh target.
The agitating farmers have submitted a memorandum to the Tehsildar seeking procurement of their paddy at the earliest.
“Our harvested paddy is lying in the yard and we are struggling to protect the yields from frequent unseasonal rains. When we informed the society secretary about out plight, he asked us to approach supply officer. As the concerned officer was absent, we met the Tehsildar today to air our grievances,” said Jaleswar Sahu, a farmer.