BARGARH: Farmers of Panimora village in Bargarh’s Sohela block have accused officials of the local primary agricultural cooperative society (PACS) of massive irregularities in distribution of paddy procurement tokens.
The farmers under the banner of Jai Kisan Andolan lodged a complaint with the district collector on Thursday alleging that several individuals who neither possess agricultural land with irrigation facilities nor have cultivated paddy were issued procurement tokens for up to 65 quintal. Genuine farmers with land and records of cultivation have either been allowed to sell negligible quantity of paddy or received no tokens at all.
The farmers claimed despite completing registration with all necessary documents for the ongoing rabi season, many of them were unfairly excluded from the paddy procurement process or allotted minimal quantities. Citing examples, the farmers said despite being landless, Ramakant Bhoi and Umesh Pradhan of Kusurda village received tokens for 65 quintal each and have already sold their paddy. Shivashankar Behera of Panimora has no access to irrigation but was issued a token for 63 quintal, they alleged.
Similarly, Akshaya Pradhan and his father received separate tokens for 65 quintal each despite sharing a single deep borewell. Uddhaba Swain’s family received four tokens for 65 quintal each even though their land lacks any irrigation system, claimed the farmers.
“This is a clear case of deliberate exclusion of genuine cultivators to accommodate brokers and fake farmers. The PACS officials are hand-in-glove with middlemen, and unless this nexus is broken, the trust of farmers in the procurement system cannot be restored,” said Hara Bania, general secretary of Jai Kisan Andolan.
The aggrieved farmers urged collector Aditya Goyal to initiate an impartial inquiry and take strict action against PACS officials and brokers involved in the scam. Goyal has reportedly assured to look into the allegations.