BARGARH: The ongoing row over new paddy procurement registration norms gathered fresh momentum as a delegation of Jay Kisan Andolan visited neighbouring Chhattisgarh to study its system for enlisting of paddy growers.
The team toured primary agricultural cooperative societies at Chiwarakuta and Sagarpali and interacted with farmers and officials. They felt the neighbouring state’s system was simple and farmer-friendly while Odisha’s process is cumbersome.
Leaders of the outfit Sushil Kumar Sahu and Hara Bania, who led the delegation, said farmers in Chhattisgarh enjoy a four-month registration window on the basis of a simple Aadhaar-based process, with the option of nominating a representative to sell paddy if they cannot turn up themselves.
Bania said even sharecroppers or tenant farmers can register with authorisation and the system largely relies on self-declaration verified by officials. “In contrast, in here there is a more rigid and complex norms, requiring not only re-registration of all farmers but also mandatory production of family-tree certificates, inclusion of every legal heir from land records, and biometric and OTP authentication of each shareholder, creating hurdles for joint families and migrant members,” he added.
On August 18, the district unit of the BJD too had staged a demonstration, seeking easing of the norms.
Farmer bodies argue that while both Odisha and Chhattisgarh are ruled by the same political dispensation, the latter has chosen to make procedure easier for cultivators by ensuring flexible timelines and a hassle-free process. Either adopt Chhattisgarh’s model or be ready to face a fiercer movement in the days ahead, Jai Kisan Andolan office-bearers said.