Injured Odisha Farmer Reaches Mandi In Ambulance To Sell Paddy

Sonepur: Worried over prolonged delay in the procurement of paddy, a farmer in Odisha reportedly landed at a mandi in an ambulance straight from the hospital bed.

The shocking incident was reported from Mahada Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) in Sonepur district.

According to sources, the farmer, Gobinda Mishra of Bhajabalpur under Ulunda block met with an accident recently and fractured his legs and hands. He was undergoing treatment at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla in Sambalpur.

Mishra was worried as a token for paddy procurement was issued to him 15 days back. While undergoing treatment, he repeatedly called up the district collector and Civil Supplies department officials to procure his paddy in his absence taking into consideration his health, but to no avail.

Left with no option, Gobinda reached the mandi in an ambulance after covering a distance of 120 km. However, he was utterly disappointed as he could not sell paddy after the iris scan failed due to network issue.

“I have fractured my legs and hands and undergoing treatment at Burla hospital. As there is an emergency of selling paddy, I came to the mandi in the ambulance. But I could not sell the paddy as the iris scan failed. I had earlier contacted the collector and other supplies department official, but no steps were taken to help me.”

Subrat Kumar Purohit, Additional Secretary of Mahada PACS, said, “The farmer is not well but came to the mandi to sell paddy. As the server was down, his paddy could not be procured. When the server issue will resolve, we will complete the process by visiting his house.”