HC quashes APC order on supply of pumpsets to farmers

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court today quashed the directive of the Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) on supply of pumpsets to the farmers from Odisha Agro Industries Corporation (OAIC).

The court, while hearing a petition filed by Mohanty Trading Company and several farmers, ruled that the farmers can take the pumpsets of their choice from any accredited company.

Notably, the state government had decided to provide 40,000 pumpsets worth Rs 60 crore to the farmers at a subsidised rate for which it had identified 330 sellers. But as the government decided that the farmers will have to purchase the pumpsets from OAIC, the aggrieved farmers filed a writ petition in the High Court saying that they would incur heavy loss due to the faulty decision of the government. Besides, they also urged the court to order a probe into the massive financial irregularities.

“We had filed a case against the order issued by the then Commissioner and Director PK Meherda asking the farmers to purchase the pumpsets from OAIC. “He had issued a vague order for his own purpose which we had challenged in the High Court.  The honourable court, after hearing our plea, quashed the order and gave the ruling in favour of the farmers. An FIR would be lodged against Meherda,” Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, president of Odisha Pumpset Dealers’ Association, told media persons.