The issue of delay in paddy procurement rocked the first day of Winter Session in Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly on Monday. The issue was raised by the entire opposition including Bharatiya Janata Party, Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (Jogi) and Bahujan Samaj Party by moving Adjournment Motion in the House demanding immediate discussions on the burning issue. Massive pandemonium was created in the House as the issue was being tabled by BJP Legislators including Shivratan Sharma, Brijmohan Agrawal, Ajay Chandrakar, Narayan Chandel, etc led by Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik, while alleging that due to delay in procurement, farmers are compelled either to sell their paddy produce at throwaway prices to middlemen. In some places they are forced to throw their paddy produce on roads.
However, Speaker Dr Charan Das Mahant, taking cognizance of the gravity of the issue, decided to accept the notice for Adjournment Motion moved collectively by Dharamlal Kaushik, Dr Raman Singh, Shivratan Sharma, Ajay Chandrakar, Brijmohan Agrawal, Ajit Jogi, Narayan Chandel, Saurav Singh, Dharamjit Singh, Krishnamurti Bandhi, Rajnesh Singh, Anjana Deependra Sahu, etc. The Speaker asked the state government to file its reply on the Motion. When Cooperatives Minister Dr Premsai Singh Tekam started readying the state government’s reply to the Motion, objection was raised by opposition benches stating that the Motion has been move on a composite issue which covers several departments including finance, agriculture, food, cooperatives, revenue, etc so the answer should come from the Chief Minister himself as he’s the leader of the House and head of the government.
Amidst objections and counter-objections, the Minister finally read his reply and thereafter the Speaker took the issue for discussion. Initiating his discussion, BJP Legislative Party Leader Dharamlal Kaushik said that over 60 percent paddy in the state has been harvested but despite good paddy harvest, the financial condition of farmers are in dismay as they are either compelled to sell their produce to middlemen at throwaway prices ranging from Rs 1200-1500 per quintal. He said after a recent order passed by state government, the administration have started confiscating paddy being transported by local farmers from villages to mandis at district head-quarters in the middle of the state instead of apprehending those who are smuggling paddy in bordering areas.
Kaushik said raids conducted by the respective district administration has made the situation much worse and small farmers are not getting middlemen to purchase their paddy even at Rs 1000 per quintal. He urged the state government to act fast and save the farmers from this anarchy. He said administration should confiscate paddy coming from other states. Also delay in procurement has led to financial burden as they have to pay labour charges, prepare stocking of paddy and save it from getting dry (moisture). Kaushik alleged that the state government has failed to fulfill the formalities required for getting the benefits of Kisaan Samman Nidhi, a central scheme, wherein, a registered farmer gets Rs 6000 per acre annually as support from central government.
The state government has even failed to fulfill the promise made regarding complete loan waiver. Replying to the allegations, Cooperative Minister Dr Premsai Singh Tekam in his two and half page statement said the state government is ready for paddy procurement and if the date has been postponed by 15 days, its last date has also been extended for 15 days and state government is committed to procure paddy from December 1, 2019 till February 15, 2020. All necessary formalities have been completed. In the previous Kharif year, paddy procurement was carried from Novemeber 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019. The Tekam further added that the paddy procurement was delayed due to sudden rains in the first week of November leading to increase in moisture percentage in the crop.
As per central norms, maximum moisture of 17 percent is accepted in paddy and if more it is rejected. Keeping in view the farmers’ interest, the procurement was delayed so that the moisture content in paddy gets dried up. He further added that in the Kharif season 2019-20, the farmers’ registration was carried out from August 16, 2019 till November 7, 2019 and 19.7 lakh farmers were registered for paddy procurement. He said as per notification issue, MSP for paddy (course) has been fixed at Rs 1815 per quintal and paddy (fine) has been fixed at Rs 1835 per quintal. Hence it is incorrect to state that farmers are selling paddy at Rs 1200-1500 per quintal.
