Sambalpur: Even as rabi paddy harvest is continuing, farmers have intensified their demand that the administration buys 35 sacks of paddy per acre at procurement centres.
A delegation of farmers belonging to Chaunrpur, Charpali and Goshala areas under Dhanakauda block have met district collector Balwant Singh and discussed the matter with him Tuesday. The district collector directed tehsildars to start a probe into the matter. He assured to draw the attention of the state government towards their problems. The farmers, however, threatened to intensify their agitation across the district if their demands are not conceded.
They protested against the decision of the administration that has set a limit to buying 32 sacks of paddy per acre farmers. While in Bargarh district, 35 sacks of paddy are procured from farmers per acre, in Sambalpur, the amount is less, they alleged. When they approach the departmental officials about the matter, they said they have acted as per the guidelines of the administration. While, production of paddy per acre is 40 sacks, it is unfortunate that the administration buys only 32 sacks.
While they are already in stress due to crop loss, such disparity by the administration is an injustice.
The outfit also demanded that farmers who were deprived of registration be included in the list of eligible farmers to sell their produce. They alleged that the irregular registration process is a deliberate attempt by the administration to slow down the procurement.
A case in point is while 663 farmers have registered their names with A Katapali cooperative society, names of 410 famers have not been registered.
It may be mentioned here that a delegation of farmers of Zilla Krushak Suraksha Sangathan had met the district collector at a district-level meet April 22 and drew his attention towards their demands. The district collector had assured them to sort out their issue at that time. However, no measure has been taken till date to concede their demands.
PNN
