BJP to protest shoddy paddy purchase in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR :  Armed with the report of the Central team that exposed the mess in paddy procurement, the BJP will stage a dharna near the office of Odisha State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) on Friday to force the government agency to purchase unsold rabi paddy from registered farmers across the State.

BJP MLAs from western Odisha, State party functionaries, district functionaries of the party’s Krushak Morcha and farmers from rabi paddy procurement districts will participate in the dharna which will continue till the government buys the entire stock kept at different mandis and from farmers still waiting for online tokens, said State BJP Krushak Morcha president Pradip Purohit. 

“We are determined to fight till our demand is met. We will not allow the government to take the farmers for a ride during a difficult situation like this,” Purohit said. The former MLA from Padampur said even as rabi paddy procurement will be over on June 30, hundreds of farmers are still waiting for tokens. Farmers whose tokens have lapsed are selling their produce to private traders at Rs 1,000-Rs 2,000 per quintal against the minimum support price of Rs 1,868 per quintal. 

He said the shoddy paddy procurement by the State government was highlighted by the four-member Central team which conducted a filed study in four districts including Nayagarh, the home district of Agriculture Minister Arun Sahoo. Despite the lapses pointed out in the report, the issues persist. 

As per reports, in Kalahandi, tokens issued to 1,105 farmers lapsed on Thursday. Instances of few farmers been issued a token twice due to which they were unable sell their produce at the mandis have also come to fore. Purohit said the Central team found that a total of 2,191 tokens were issued for Sohela market yard of Padampur RMC but paddy from 1,940 tokens were purchased.