Narsinghpur: Fed up with delay in opening mandis and the irregularities in paddy procurement, farmers Friday hit the streets and blocked the road by dumping paddy on the road here in Cuttack district.
The farmers shouted slogans and blocked the road for hours disrupting traffic. Road communication to Cuttack and Narsinghpur was disrupted as hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on either side of the road.
The farmers said that they were having a hard time in selling their produce due to the district administration’s apathy. They said that several bags of paddy, which were brought to the mandis by farmers for procurement, are lying unsold.
The farmers are spending sleepless nights, guarding their produce in the mandis, but the administration has not taken steps to speed up procurement.
Moreover, the transport cost for bringing the produce from their fields to the mandis has been burdening the farmers who are already facing problems in paying back loans.
Demanding immediate action, hundreds of farmers staged a road blockade near Kokalaba Chhak in Narasinghpur block by spilling paddy on the road.
The farmers alleged that they have been waiting for millers to buy paddy at the mandis. But they had to return from the mandis twice as millers did not turn up to buy paddy. They said that they are under severe stress as they have to repay the loans they had taken.
Due to the delay in paddy procurement farmers are forced to go for distress sales and are selling their paddy at low prices to middlemen.
In some procurement centres, the millers were demanding extra paddy per quintal from farmers. In many mandis, the millers were cheating farmers by using rigged weighing machines, they said.
The farmers demanded that such unfair practices should be checked, and warned that they would intensify their stir in days to come. They demanded that officials should speed up the procurement process.
Meanwhile, district administration officials have not come to the spot to resolve the issue. A senior official said steps would be taken for smooth paddy procurement at mandis and asked farmers not to panic.
PNN