SAMBALPUR: What went wrong with paddy procurement in Sambalpur district which was scheduled to start from November 15 and is yet to take off? The district administration simply was not ready.
Many farmers brought their paddy to market yards on November 15 but there was no arrangement for procurement. The millers were not tagged with any market yards which should have been done well in advance. This apart, tokens were also not issued to farmers, which is a must for participation in the procurement process.
The administration started issuing tokens to farmers only from November 16 but the latter are yet to participate demanding withdrawal of the centralised token which the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department introduced from the current kharif season.
Under the new system, centralised tokens were supposed to be issued 15 days in advance by the department and sent to the registered mobile numbers of farmers in shape of an SMS. There is a general feeling that the token is being generated from the State Capital and there is no role of the district administration in the process.
There is no clarity on how the token SMSes are being sent to farmers since harvest of paddy is carried out in different regions at different times. Sources said the messages are sent basing on the date on which tokens were issued to farmers in the last kharif without assessing the ground realities.
Paddy procurement process started in Sambalpur Sadar but in other areas it is yet to take off. Civil Supplies Officer, Sambalpur Ranjan Seth said 35 market yards and paddy purchase centres have been opened in Sambalpur Sadar sub-division and tokens issued to 6,178 farmers. However, paddy is yet to be procured due to farmers’ stir, he said.
However, the administration has postponed the scheduled date of commencement of paddy procurement in Kuchinda sub-division by 10 days. Paddy procurement was to begin in Kuchinda from November 22, but due to its unpreparedness, the administration postponed it to December 1. Procurement in Rairakhol will begin as per schedule on December 1.
During the current kharif season, 44,825 farmers registered online in the district as against 44,060 farmers in last kharif. The Food Supplies department had directed the district administration to start procurement between November 1 and 15 and complete it by March 31, 2020.
Seth said tagging of millers with markets yards was delayed due to postponement of District Level Paddy Procurement Committee (DLPC) meeting by six days as farmers refused to attend it.
Paddy protest reaches MLAs’ doors
SAMBALPUR: Farmers under the banner of Sambalpur Zilla Krushak Surakhya Sangathan (SZKSS) on Tuesday parked paddy-laden vehicles in front of the residence of all the MLAs of the district protesting centralised token system. The farmers first went to Bhatra parked a paddy-laden vehicle in front of the house of Rengali BJP MLA Nauri Naik.
Subsequently, they staged similar protests in front of the houses of Rairakhol BJD MLA Rohit Pujari at Sakhipada and Sambalpur BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra at Nandpada. Advisor of SZKSS Ashok Pradhan said if the State Government does not withdraw the centralised token system, the farmers will be forced to intensify the stir.