UMERKOTE: As registration for kharif paddy procurement kicks off, farmers across Nabarangpur district have a sense of déja vu. With no tangible action initiated against their complaints last time, they are worried the ghost of fake registration may be looming large all over again.
Last kharif, over 4,000 farmers in Nabarangpur district could not sell paddy due to faulty registration and token generation. Distressed, nearly 3,000 farmers took out a 130 km rally from Chandahandi to the district headquarters to air their grievances.
After registration process for Kharif 2021 kicked off on July 15, farmers from across the district met at Chandahandi on Thursday to demand transparency in registration and ironing out irregularities in the paddy sale process so that middlemen are neutralised.
Under the new registration rules, previous registration will not be renewed. Farmers will be required to register with an approved Large Area Multipurpose Societies (LAMPS) or SHG groups with required documents like authorisation letter in case of share cropper, Aadhaar card, land leases etc.
However, farmers are wary that brokers may still become active. Some brokers are even rumored to be submitting certificates they had collected last year and if registration process is not monitored properly, such irregularities will continue, they say.
Paddy is being grown over 1.3 lakh hectare in the district this kharif. The number of farmers with more than 2 hectares of farmland stands at 14,500 while small farmers will be about 60,000 in the district.
After the issue of fake registration raised its ugly head last year, triggering large-scale outrage among the farming community, 11 cases were filed in Chandahandi, Kosagumuda, Nabarangpur and Jharigam blocks against millers and civil supplies officials over mismanagement.
Farmers had alleged that millers bought thousands of quintals of paddy through false registration by engaging middlemen while real farmers were left in the lurch.
Over 4,000 farmers out of 22,000 who enlisted to sell their paddy at the mandis were left with their unsold harvest. Many farmers alleged that the miller-middlemen nexus created an environment forcing them for distress sale as they were unable to sell at mandis.
Complaints were filed that land are being falsely registered under names of others but police did nothing about it, they said.
Eight months on, farmers say, remedial steps are next to nothing as only three data entry operators of Chandahandi, Jharigam and Kosagumuda blocks were suspended six months back.
Nabarangpur Collector Ajit Mishra, however, says, the registration process is being closely watched to check fake registration of farmers.
A committee comprising officials of Revenue, Civil Supplies and Cooperative has been constituted in each block.
It will examine authenticity of documents submitted by farmers for registration. Tehsildars in each block have been empowered to monitor the committees, he said.