bargarh: Irked over irregularities in paddy procurement and token system of the State government, hundreds of farmers of Ambhabona block in Bargarh district blocked the highway connecting Bhukta with Prakashpur in Chhattisgarh on Monday.
The irate farmers under the banner of ‘Lal Bahadur Shastri Krushak Sangathan’ also staged dharna outside Bhukta market yard by dumping tractor loads of unsold paddy on the road. Vehicular movement on the State highway was paralysed for around 10 hours due to the protest.
Secretary of the farmers’ outfit Sankar Khamari said the token system has turned into a nightmare for farmers. The State government has turned a blind eye to the problems farmers are facing during paddy procurement. “The Civil Supplies department terminated the paddy procurement for the kharif season from January 15 but many farmers are yet to sell their produce due to delay and glitches in token generation,” he said.
According to him, farmers whose tokens had lapsed were not allowed to store their paddy in the market yard. Many farmers received the token after the market yard was closed. Around 373 farmers could not sell their kharif paddy. While tokens of 90 farmers lapsed, 283 received tokens after January 15, Khamari alleged.
Later, district officials rushed to the protest site and tried to pacify the farmers. The agitators initially refused to budge but called off the stir at around 6 pm. “Though we have withdrawn the road blockade, protest will be intensified from Tuesday,” Khamari added.
Sources said the farmers have decided to stall functioning of the block and tehsil offices by dumping paddy bags and staging dharna from Tuesday for an indefinite period. They have planned to stage similar protest outside the sub-collector’s office on February 11.