Malpractice plaints halt groundnut procurement

RAJKOT: National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) has suspended groundnut procurement at minimum support price (MSP) at most of the centres following complaints of malpractices and supply of substandard groundnut from other states. The state government wants NAFED to follow new set of guidelines for procurement of groundnut, which includes videography of the entire process, from arrival of the commodity at the procurement centre till it reaches the warehouse.
NAFED has already procured 8 lakh tonne of groundnut at MSP of Rs 900 per 20 kg from farmers. The Gujarat government recently directed the central agency to procure 4 lakh tonne more from farmers, but with new set of rules. Sources in NAFED indicated that if new rules as proposed by the Gujarat government are followed, the procurement process will slow down drastically. According to a rough estimate, the centres will be able to procure from only 10 farmers under the new set of rules.

"Groundnut procurement at most of the centres has been suspended as the government is bringing new rules to curb malpractice. Farmers who have already registered are waiting for their turn," chairman of Amreli Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Deepak Malani said.

NAFED chairman V R Patel said, "We have been asked to follow the new procedure to curb malpractice in procurement. The first step we have taken is closed procurement centres outside APMCs." However, the agency confirmed that it was difficult to follow the new rules proposed by the state government.

Meanwhile, farmers who have sold their stock at MSP are still waiting for the money to be deposited in their bank accounts. President of Kheudut Hitrakshak Samiti in Devbhoomi Dwarka district Palabhai Ambalia said, "All the 10 procurement centres in our district are shut and farmers are waiting for their turn. We have submitted a memorandum to collector requesting to release Rs 2 core to 200 farmers who had sold stock in November last year."

Farmers allege corruption in online entry of stock

The farmers of Devbhoomi Dwarka alleged that authorities at procurement centres were indulging in corrupt practices by entering less stock into the online system. "The staff at procurement centres have to enter detail of farmer and stock on NAFED server and based on that payment is deposited in farmer's account. Some farmers have complained that the staff had entered less stock in the online system so they received less payment," president Palabhai Amballia of Kheudut Hitrakshak Samiti in Devbhoomi Dwarka district alleged. The farmers have demanded that they should be given permission to register stock online to bring transparency in the system.