SAMBALPUR: In a bid to mount pressure on the district administration to begin the kharif paddy procurement at the earliest, hundreds of farmers of Godbhaga area in Bargarh district forcefully dumped their harvested paddy in the market yard on Wednesday.
On the day, the farmers under the banner of Odisha Rajya Krushak Sangathan along with seven tractor load of harvested paddy reached the market yard in the area. Subsequently, they forced the staff there to open the gate and later dumped 1,040 paddy bags there. Before leaving, they held a meeting at the spot and declared their resolution threatening to dump more paddy bags until the procurement begins.
However, no officials were present at the market yard when the incident happened. Reportedly, at the District Level Procurement Committee Meeting (DLPC) was held on October 27, the administration proposed to begin the procurement process from November 25. However, the farmers opposed the decision and demanded the date to be a little early by November 15. Later the district collector said that the date will be finalised in another meeting. But three days later, administration unilaterally took a decision to start procurement from November 21 which triggered resentment among the farmers.
Farmer leader Birendra Kar said, “We had already raised our concern during the DLPC meeting that majority of the farmers will be ready for procurement by November 15 and if it is delayed beyond the second week, they will face problem due to lack of storage facilities. Around 30 percent crop has already been harvested and those farmers are now gripped with uncertainty as there is a prediction of low-pressure induced rain in a few days.”
Moreover, those who are waiting to harvest the crops closer to the procurement date are apprehending risk of pest attack. It is better to begin the procurement now otherwise the farmers will be exploited by the middlemen and forced to sell the produces at underrates, he added.
ADM, Lalat Sahu said he is unaware of such an incident. However, civil supplies officer, Bargarh, Dasrathi Soren said it is RMC’s responsibility to decide on storage of paddy bags before the procurement dates. However, as per the official decision, procurement is scheduled to begin from November 21.