NEW DELHI: Delhi Agriculture Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said the government has been receiving complaints from farmers of harassment by Food Corporation of India (FCI) officers over procurement of crops at the wholesale markets in the city.
Rai’s allegations came at a time when the Delhi government and the Centre are at the loggerheads over setting up of FCI counters at city mandis for procurement of wheat at the minimum support price (MSP). While Rai accused the Central agency was yet to set up the counters, but the FCI said the installments have been. Rai said there have been complaints from farmers about non-cooperation of officials in the FCI godown regarding the purchase of wheat.
“We have directed officials to not disturb the farmers and to resolve the problems at the earliest. Mandi officials have been instructed to provide all kinds of facilities to the farmers” said Rai. According to the minister, the FCI has procured 4,740 quintals of wheat from farmers at Narela and Najafgarh grain markets, only after he flagged the matter.
At Narela, the FCI had set up a registration counter earlier to purchase wheat on the demand of farmers, where the farmers can register between 10 am and 5pm. Based on these registrations, 540 quintals of wheat has been procured till now in the Narela grain market, while 4,200 quintal has been purchased from farmers in the Najafgarh mandi. Last week, Rai had said that the FCI was not procuring wheat from farmers in Delhi despite several reminders.