BARGARH: Ahead of rabi paddy procurement, farmers of Bargarh under the aegis of ‘Jai Kisan Andolan’ took out a rally and staged dharna outside the district Collector’s office over various demands on Tuesday.The rally, which started from Goshala, saw participation of over 800 farmers who walked to the Collector’s office and staged demonstration. The agitating farmers also submitted a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to Bargarh Collector Monisha Banerjee.
The agitators said their major concern is the Centre’s decision against procurement of parboiled rice. The CM of Odisha had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October last year stating that denial of procurement of surplus parboiled rice would affect 10 lakh farmers of the State. The issue was also raised by BJD MPs in the Parliament on March 31 this year.
However, while the Centre is silent on the matter, the State government has not taken any further steps to ensure procurement of parboiled rice, they alleged.Farmer leader Lingaraj said besides Odisha, farmers of nearby states are also facing problem due to non-procurement of parboiled rice. But farmers in states like Telangana are protesting the decision unlike Odisha.
“Farmers here are suffering every season due to the token system and deduction of paddy. Restriction on procurement of parboiled rice would further increase distress sale. Both the Central and State governments should discuss the issue and make provision for procurement of parboiled rice,” he said.
All farmers of the State are not getting the promised MSP of `2,930 per quintal of paddy and are being forced to sell their produce at much lower prices. The government should provide a bonus of `250 per quintal of paddy to compensate for the loss of farmers, Lingaraj added.
The agitators also demanded that tokens should be made valid till the mandis are operational. Besides, many farmers fail to avail irrigation facilities as electricity connections are disconnected due to non-payment of dues.The farmers demanded that electricity bills should be waived once to ensure uninterrupted irrigation facilities.