BJP to stage mandi protest tomorrow in Odisha

BHAWANIPATNA: The Kalahandi unit of BJP will stage demonstration in front of all mandis across the district on Friday to protest the harassment meted out to farmers during paddy procurement. 

Addressing mediapersons here on Wednesday, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik said tokens issued to farmers by the State government have lapsed in absence of paddy procurement target.

The present centralised token system operating from Bhubaneswar is faulty. The process should be managed at the district level for smoothness and transparency like earlier, he said. 

The State government should fix fresh target for the district to procure unsold paddy of farmers and generate new tokens which have lapsed due to non-operation of mandis.

Naik also flagged the issue of five to eight kg getting deducted illegally per quintal of paddy sold by farmers at mandis. Besides, one kg is being deducted for an empty gunny bag which actually weighs around 650 gm to 700 gm and this way, more than `50 crore has changed hands during the current kharif season, he said.

“The hard earned money of farmers is unaccounted for. The State government should clarify about the persons who have shared the booty. A high level judicial probe should be conducted to expose exploitation of farmers and unbridled corruption in the procurement process,” Naik added.  Among others, BJP’s district president Debendra Mohanty was present.