By: Amit Kumar
KARNAL: The wheat procurement operations have resumed in Haryana after the arhtiyas called off their strike against the government’s decision to implement direct benefit transfer (DBT) to farmers’ bank accounts following an assurance from Haryana government on Friday night.
This comes as a relief for the farmers waiting to sell their crops for the last two days.
Haryana promises to take up DBT issue with Centre
The decision to end the strike was taken by the Haryana arhityas association president Ashok Gupta and other members after a meeting with the government officials, including principal secretary of CM Umma Sankar and additional chief secretary, food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs department Anurag Rastogi in Chandigarh the previous night.
Gupta said, "The statewide strike of the arhtiyas has been called off after the state government promised to take up the issue with the central government. Till then, the concerned commission agent will be intimated one day prior to the disbursal of payment to the bank account of the farmer."
The farmers were caught in a bind due to the standoff between the government and the arhtiyas over the last 2 days. “I brought my produce to Assandh mandi on April 8, but due to the arhtiyas' strike, I had been waiting to sell my produce...Finally, I sold my crop on MSP on Saturday,” said Dharambir Singh, a farmer from Ardana village, Karnal.
Karnal DC Nishant Kumar Yadav said that they would ensure that the farmers do not face any trouble in selling their produce. He said that a total of 56,000 metric tonnes of wheat had been procured so far in Karnal district.