Farmers hit streets over mandi mismanagement

By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The anger of farmers over mandi mismanagement and irregularities in paddy procurement spilled over to the streets in all of the coastal districts on Thursday with agitating farmers throwing paddy on the roads and staging dharna close to the places of work of the district collectors to voice their protest.

The complaints of the farmers are frequent. They alleged that they need to forgo 5-10 kg of paddy per quintal underneath the pretext of the paddy not being of truthful common high quality. The minimal assist value being `2,040 per quintal, every farmer is dropping about `200 per bag. This is named katni chatni in native parlance.
Dubbing this as ‘jizya’ tax, convener of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan Akshya Kumar advised this paper that not a single farmer is spared from paying it. The proceeds from the paddy forcibly collected from the farmers are shared by the mandi employees and area functionaries of Supply division, he said.

The main downside the farmers are dealing with is non-lifting of their paddy inside the allotted time. While the centralised distribution of token is an space of concern, as rice millers tagged to specific mandis are dictating phrases. Farmers have to attend for weeks to dispose off their shares as millers are taking part in truant, Kumar added.

“We have been bringing these problems to the notice of the government but there is hardly any improvement in the situation. The farmers have been taken for granted. Frustrated over the callous attitude of the district administration they hit the streets and demonstrated before the offices of the district collectors,” Kumar mentioned.

Massive protests of aggrieved farmers are reported from Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Keonjhar districts. Agitating farmers had been seen placing paddy sacks on the roads and in entrance of the residential workplace of some district collectors.
Kumar mentioned that 14 protesting farmers of Jagatsingpur district have been forwarded to courtroom whereas farmers are sitting on dharna in Kendrapara until this report was filed.

BHUBANESWAR: The anger of farmers over mandi mismanagement and irregularities in paddy procurement spilled over to the streets in all of the coastal districts on Thursday with agitating farmers throwing paddy on the roads and staging dharna close to the places of work of the district collectors to voice their protest.

The complaints of the farmers are frequent. They alleged that they need to forgo 5-10 kg of paddy per quintal underneath the pretext of the paddy not being of truthful common high quality. The minimal assist value being `2,040 per quintal, every farmer is dropping about `200 per bag. This is named katni chatni in native parlance.
Dubbing this as ‘jizya’ tax, convener of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan Akshya Kumar advised this paper that not a single farmer is spared from paying it. The proceeds from the paddy forcibly collected from the farmers are shared by the mandi employees and area functionaries of Supply division, he said.

The main downside the farmers are dealing with is non-lifting of their paddy inside the allotted time. While the centralised distribution of token is an space of concern, as rice millers tagged to specific mandis are dictating phrases. Farmers have to attend for weeks to dispose off their shares as millers are taking part in truant, Kumar added.

“We have been bringing these problems to the notice of the government but there is hardly any improvement in the situation. The farmers have been taken for granted. Frustrated over the callous attitude of the district administration they hit the streets and demonstrated before the offices of the district collectors,” Kumar mentioned.

Massive protests of aggrieved farmers are reported from Khurda, Nayagarh, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Keonjhar districts. Agitating farmers had been seen placing paddy sacks on the roads and in entrance of the residential workplace of some district collectors.
Kumar mentioned that 14 protesting farmers of Jagatsingpur district have been forwarded to courtroom whereas farmers are sitting on dharna in Kendrapara until this report was filed.