Aadhaar cards damaged as farmers forced to queue in rain for fertiliser

The fertiliser crisis in Odisha took a dramatic turn in Angul district, where desperate farmers braved torrential rains through the night to secure their share. In an unusual scene at the Bagedia Service Cooperative Society office in Chhendipada, farmers were seen tying slippers and leaving Aadhaar cards to mark their place in the long queues.

Reports said that around 750 bags of fertiliser had arrived at the society, sparking a rush of nearly 1,700 farmers from five nearby panchayats. Many of them lined up from midnight, staying hungry and restless in the hope of getting fertiliser for their crops. With no proper system of token distribution, farmers placed Aadhaar cards in line to reserve their turn.

But as heavy rain lashed the area, the Aadhaar cards got soaked and damaged. Yet farmers refused to leave the queue, fearing that without their cards in place, they would lose their chance.

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“Even if our ID cards are destroyed, we must keep them in line; otherwise, someone else will take our place,” a farmer lamented.

The incident highlighted the extent of the farmers’ struggle in the state, where early monsoon rains have increased the demand for fertiliser. For many cultivators, the ordeal has now become a test of endurance, with hunger, rain and damaged identity cards adding to their already heavy burdens.