Rupsa: Alleging irregularities in paddy procurement by cooperative authorities and administrative inaction, hundreds of farmers created a ruckus at Channua Cooperative Society under sadar block in Balasore Wednesday.
The allegations they made are that traders sell paddy to the cooperative society in collusion with unscrupulous staff while genuine farmers are deprived of selling their paddy.
They accused the officials of cooperative society of adopting discriminatory policy in paddy procurement. They warned of agitation if steps are not taken to stop procuring paddy from traders.
Reports said, thousands of farmers from 12 villages including Chhanua, Dubulagadi and Bahabalpur panchayats are dependent on the cooperative society. For the current khariff season, 285 farmers have registered their names online for paddy sale. The Mandi was opened December 16.
The mandi staff said 75 farmers have sold their paddy, but many farmers alleged that traders have been pushing their paddy by using tokens of some other farmers.
It was alleged that many farmers’ paddy has remained unsold. Satrughan Barik, secretary of the society, said paddy is being procured from farmers in queue system. However, he said he was unaware of traders selling paddy through tokens of other farmers.
PNN