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Several farmers in Bargarh district alleged that they are to receive payments even though three years have passed since the lifting of their paddy from the mandis.
In a preparatory meeting on the paddy procurement for this Kharif season which was held at the DRDO office in Bargarh on Friday, the farmers alleged that despite lifting paddy from the farmers, the government is yet to pay some farmers in the region. They even demanded to fix an earlier date to begin procurement of paddy for this Kharif season.
While the administration decided to begin the paddy lifting from mandis by November 25, no official date for the same has been announced yet.
“The meeting did not do us any good. Our primary demand was to get our money from the government for the paddy that we had sold three years back. We are yet to receive the payment. While we raised the matter during the meeting, the Collector ignored the subject and went on to another subject by saying the administration will discuss the matter later,” alleged a farmer Ramani Danta.
Another farmer, Suresh Nikanti said, “We urged the Collector to open the mandi on November 15. But no date could be finalized by the administration in the meeting. We do not know who all the members of the State Level Procurement Committee (SLPC) are. So we can’t even complain about the undue ‘katni chatni’ during paddy procurement.”
Asked about the allegations, Bargarh Collector Manisha Bannerjee said, “We do not want to open the mandi early as it will lead to lapse of the tokens. Once a token expires, it becomes a long and tedious procedure to reactivate the same. So we have to fix a date so that the paddy can be lifted without much hassle.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticized the government for the delay in procuring paddy.
Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari said, “From the Revenue department to the Supplies department, from RMC to PACS and from SHGs to millers, there are a lot of players and red tape involved in the paddy procurement procedure making it a headache for the farmers. The State government should directly purchase paddy from the farmers with the money Centre pays for the purpose.”
