BARGARH: Farmers from Satlama under Barpali block in Bargarh district are up in arms over what they allege serious malpractice in the ongoing procurement process as paddy was found to have been sold in the names of registered cultivators who have not yet harvested their crops.
In a written complaint to the district administration, the farmers claimed hands of a rice miller’s agent in the flasification.
The agitating farmers under the aegis of Jay Kisan Andolan claimed that around 1,486 quintal paddy was procured from 26 farmers at the Satlama market yard by May 24 as per the official records. However, nearly 20 of these farmers have not brought any paddy to the mandi so far. The discrepancy, they said, has raised suspicions that paddy might have been brought in from neighbouring Chhattisgarh and sold in their names.
The complainants alleged that a local trader, who also works as an agent for rice mills, may be behind the procurement using fake transactions. The farmers claimed that poor quality, low-cost paddy from outside the state is being routed into the mandi under the names of local farmers, possibly with their consent or under inducement.
“We suspect that the system is being misused by certain agents who manage to get tokens issued in the names of farmers who have not even harvested their crop yet,” said general secretary of the outfit, Hara Bania.
Sushil Kumar Sahu, district president of Jay Kisan Andolan, who accompanied the farmers said, “The integrity of the procurement system is at stake. If outsiders’ paddy is being passed off as local produce, genuine farmers will lose out. The administration must act swiftly and fairly.”
Farmers also pointed out that procurement tokens are issued only after satellite verification of farmland and Revenue department clearance. They demanded an immediate review of the token allocation and physical verification of fields from where paddy has allegedly been harvested.
The farmers called for strict action against any individual - whether farmer, middleman, or official - found guilty of enabling such malpractice.
Since the district collector was unavailable, the group approached additional district magistrate Madhuchhanda Sahu over phone and informed that issue.
She assured that a fact-finding team would be dispatched for investigation and necessary action will be taken.