Days after farmers and activists attempted to block NH-44 at Shahabad in Kurukshetra demanding early paddy procurement, senior farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni on Friday lashed out at the government apathy over slow purchase and appealed the farmers to gather at the same spot on October 5.
The farmer leader claimed that the government was yet to complete field verification on the Meri Fasal Mera Byora (MFMB) portal. But the government and bureaucracy has failed to complete verification to enable corruption. There has been no MSP purchase, no lifting and farmers are being pushed to commit suicide. If this exploitation of farmers continues, the government and administration will face adverse consequences, and farmers will be forced to launch a major agitation.
Earlier on September 22, the police used force to push farmers away from the highway after which they staged a day-long sit-in on a state highway, which was lifted after government’s assurance on early purchase. Usually, the Kharif procurement of paddy and bajra begins on October 1, but on September 28, the Union government approved advancement of purchase by two days to September 29. The government ordered field-verification for nearly 24 lakh acres of non-basmati paddy registered on the portal over concerns that majority of farmers growing basmati could have registered their crop as non-basmati, to get eligible for MSP.
However, Charuni said that despite the Centre’s assurance and approval, “not even a quintal” has been purchased or lifted at mandis. Charuni said, “We have been struggling to get our crop sold at the mandis. State president Ratan Mann, who visited Jundla mandi in Karnal, said, “Farmers waiting to sell their produce are forced to wait in the markets for days. CM said that the state government has been serious about the interests of farmers and that no farmer will be allowed to face unnecessary trouble during the procurement.
