SAMBALPUR: Turning up heat on the district administration, agitating farmers of Padampur blocked entry into the sub-collector's office by dumping more paddy bags in front of the main gate on Wednesday.
Paddy bags were also dumped inside Padampur tehsil office. The farmers have been staging dharna by dumping around 5,000 quintal of unsold paddy on the premises of the sub-collector's office in Padampur since the last one week. They are protesting the non-procurement of paddy and fault in the token system.
On the day, the farmers dumped around 300 quintal paddy in front of the sub-collector’s office gate and 200 quintal inside the tehsil office. Farmer leader Ramesh Mohapatra said, "They are staging protest demanding procurement of unsold paddy but government has deliberately turned a blind eye to their plight."
Many farmers cultivated paddy by borrowing money from others with the hope of repaying the loans after selling their produce but paddy bags are lying unsold in market yards. Around 2.48 lakh quintal of paddy is lying unsold in 70 market yards of Padampur sub-division, he said.
Mohapatra further said there is a prediction of rainfall for around four days in the area and if the unsold paddy in the market yards is not procured, it will get damaged, leading to heavy losses for farmers. "Sub-collector Tanmaya Darwan had held discussion with the farmers on February 11 but after that, no one from the administration has come to meet us," he added.
Chief civil supplies officer, Bargarh Rajnikant Das said, procurement of paddy from farmers who have valid tokens is underway. "We have also apprised the government about the lapsed tokens. After the government takes a decision on the issue, we will proceed accordingly," Das added.