Bargarh: In a novel protest against alleged irregularities in paddy procurement, farmers Monday heaped sacks of paddy on the premises of the District Collector’s office in Bargarh and ate pakhala while staging a sit-in. Later, police detained several farmers and removed the dumped paddy sacks.
The protest comes even as farmer registration for rabi paddy procurement is scheduled to begin Tuesday. Several farmers in the district alleged that despite submitting the required documents to departmental authorities earlier, many of them have not yet been registered for selling their kharif paddy harvested last season.
As a result, large quantities of paddy remain unsold and are lying in mandis and threshing yards under the open sky, leading to widespread resentment among farmers. Farmers dependent on the Saharatikra mandi in Bheden block under the Attabira Regulated Market Committee (RMC) brought paddy on motorcycles and piled it up on the Collectorate premises Monday.
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They then sat on a dharna and ate pakhala as a mark of protest. Around 6:30 pm, a police team led by SDPO Padarabinda Tripathy reached the site. Police personnel, with the help of labourers, removed the paddy and shifted it outside the office premises.
Police also detained several farmers from Talmenda village, including Biju Sahu, Yadav Sahu, Bikash Bhoi, Akshaya Sahu and Prakash Sahu, and took them to the Reserve Police office at Chakarkend. Other farmers continued their sit-in protest at the Collectorate till about 8pm.
Sources said farmers had applied for registration during the kharif procurement process last August by submitting the required documents. However, many are yet to be registered and remain unable to sell their produce. Nearly 25,000 packets of paddy belonging to farmers of Bahalpali, Talmenda, Dekulba, Patarpali, Deheripali, San Pipilipali and Khagsipali villages in Bheden block are reportedly lying unsold at the Saharatikra mandi.
Farmers had earlier staged a similar protest by bringing about 15 packets of paddy to the Collectorate March 5. However, the paddy reportedly went missing overnight, prompting them to lodge a complaint with Bargarh Town police March 6 alleging theft. Farmers again brought paddy and resumed their protest Monday.
Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies Radhe Meher, District Supply Officer Dibyasingh Badmali, Assistant Supply Officer Byomkesh Majhi and Additional Sub-Collector Madanlal Panda visited the protest site and held discussions with the farmers. Officials sought two days’ time to resolve the issue. However, farmers said they would continue their demonstration until their paddy is procured. Leaders of the United Farmers’ Organisation, including Ramesh Mohapatra, Rabishankar Pradhan, Niranjan Pradhan, Jogesh Pradhan and Suresh Nikanti, were among those present at the protest.