Bijepur: Farmers are unlikely to get any government assistance as paddy traders have entered into a sale racket in this block of Bargarh district by forging the coupons of the former, a report said.
The state government has announced the block as drought-hit after the farmers had suffered crop loss due to irregular climatic conditions.
As a result, the farmers will be deprived of the financial assistance which the state government has announced for them. This has sparked sharp resentment among the farmers as they demanded the Collector’s intervention to resolve the issue.
Sources said the district administration has kept market yards (mandis) open in this block from November to help the farmers sell their paddy stocks.
However, no sale and purchase of paddy could take place in these mandis for over one and half months as the farmers were yet to recover from the trauma of drought conditions. Some unscrupulous traders taking advantage of the absence of farmers purchased paddy from other regions and tried to sell the produce in these mandis by forging the coupons of the farmers in this block.
Sources said the farmers registered under Bijepur and Misrigida cooperative societies have been enlisted to sell their stocks at Keuntpali market yard. According to reports, over 5666.70 quintals of paddy have been purchased in the mandi by Thursday evening from 111 farmers of Bijepur cooperative societies while 190 sacks of paddy of two farmers have remained unsold in the mandi. The farmers of drought-affected Bijepur have registered to sell 23,187 quintals of paddy in the Keuntpali mandi. However, only 5,666.70 quintals have been sold.
Similarly, the farmers of Misrigida Cooperative Society had registered to sell 34,000 quintals of paddy in the mandi but only 8,514.76 quintals of grains of 150 farmers have been sold.
Moreover, 5300 sacks of paddy of 41 farmers have remained unsold. This apart, the millers are directly coming to this mandi for which traders have manipulated to obtain their authorisation and purchasing the paddy.
It is alleged that while a handful of farmers have managed to sell paddy, the rest 90 per cent are traders who with forged coupons are selling the paddy.
When contacted, ACSO Sambhu Prasad Haripal of Padmapur sub-division assured that he would visit the Keuntpali mandi and probe the charges.
PNN
