BHUBANESWAR: As online registration of farmers for sale of their surplus paddy to the State procurement agencies is going slow, the Cooperation Department has directed the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to take action against officials concerned of the primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS) deviating from time schedule.Even as September 15 was set as deadline for registration, only 11 per cent of the farmers registered last year have renewed their names. Though the Government has been emphasising on enrolment of sharecroppers, small and marginal ryots, only one per cent new farmers have registered their names with the PACS, the agencies appointed by the Government for procurement of paddy.
In the 2017-18 kharif marketing season, 11.2 lakh farmers had registered with PACS for sale of surplus paddy. “Strict action should be taken against the supervising officers, secretaries of PACS and Large Area Multi-purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS) who are found violating the guidelines and time schedule communicated by the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department,” said a communication from the office of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies to the field staff.
Earlier, the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department had directed all Collectors to give emphasis on enrolment of new farmers such as sharecroppers, marginal and small farmers, and members of the joint liability groups involved in farming. The objective is to ensure minimum support price (MSP) to farmers for the paddy they sell to the Government-appointed procuring agencies.
Official sources said 1,815 PACS have so far participated in the process of farmers registration while 691 societies are yet to commence registration. As many as 177 out of 388 PACS of Ganjam district have not started the process to register farmers.The renewal of farmers registration is as low as two per cent in districts like Bargarh, Bhadrak, Rayagada and Sambalpur. As per reports received from the districts, only 4,521 new farmers have been registered till August 10. The Government has planned to enhance the number of registered farmers by 33 per cent over the last year.