Bargarh: Even as it has been nearly three weeks since the administration opened market yards (mandis) for rabi paddy collection, the farmers continue to suffer due to government apathy, it was alleged.
Though the civil supplies department, for records, procures paddy consignments of farmers through the Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), the procurement centres are being run as per the will of rice millers, complained many farmers.
The millers, following rain and thunderstorm triggered by Nor’wester, have sent their agents to various market yards and started ‘Katni Chhatni’, a process to reduce the weight of a bag of paddy by eight to 10 kg, said the farmers.
The agents are influencing the market yard authorities to reduce the weight on the pretext of the paddy being wet after the rain, it was learnt.
On the other hand, no measures are being taken even if such irregularities are committed under the very nose of top departmental officials, alleged many aggrieved paddy growers.
According to reports, the farmers, after producing their identity cards, are allowed to sell 26 quintals of paddy per acre at the mandis. While the minimum support price (MSP) of general paddy variety has been fixed at Rs 1,550 per quintal, grade-A quality fetches Rs 1,590 to the farmers.
However, the farmers are deprived of the MSP due to ‘Katni Chhatni’ process, alleged Sadananda Danta, Gajanan Jhankar and many other farmers at one such procurement centre of the district.
Farmers in as many as 110 market yards run under Atabira, Padmapur and Bargarh regulated market committees are facing such problems, a report said.
Though the civil supplies department, as on May 17, has collected 98,016 quintals of paddy through PACSs, the monopoly of the millers has only added to the miseries of farmers who suffered massive crop loss due to the Nor’wester, many farmers who were present at the market yard said.
They demanded the district administration should look into the matter.
District civil supplies officer Shreekar Majhi couldn’t be contacted in this regard.
