Sambalpur: Even as the government announced to waive interest on farm loans in drought-affected areas, cooperative societies here are seen putting pressure on farmers to repay their loans with interest by March 25, alleged farmers of the district.
Attending a review meet at the district collectorate here, farmers urged the administration to make its stand clear on repayment of crop loans.
They maintained that the government had promised them Rs 6,800 as compensation for crop loss on every hectare of land and Rs 100 bonus per a sack of paddy. However, the money has not been deposited on the accounts of farmers yet.
District collector Balwant Singh, after hearing the pleas of farmers, assured them of drawing the attention of the state government to these issues. He also said that help of the district farmers’ outfit would be taken while sorting out their issues.
Elaborating on various pro-farmer steps taken by the state government, Singh said the administration initiated efforts to build concrete yard in existing market-yards and in each panchayat to process and stock paddy. A total of 122 new concrete paddy yards would be built this year. The project implemented by the district agriculture department and the regulated market committees (RMC) will be completed within a month.
A blueprint has been prepared for building new market yards. Local committees with farmers’ representatives and administration officials as members will be formed to help in implementation of the project. The collector asked the Zilla Kushak Suraksha Sangathan to provide a list of farmers, who will be members of the local committees.
A district-level committee will be formed to supervise the implementation. Opinion of farmers while identifying the land for market yards would be given priority, he added.
Some members alleged that even though blueprints had been prepared to set up market yards at eight places in Kuchinda sub-division, they have been a non-starter as the Regulated Market Committee (RMC) is yet to come up with a masterplan in this regard. PNN
