Bhubaneswar: In spite of strong protests by farmers, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister RP Swain Monday indicated that token system will continue. He claimed that the system will make the process more transparent.
Making a statement in the House, he said that the list of registered farmers provided with online tokens is available in the offices of the Regional Cooperative Marketing Society (RCMS) and SHGs.
Swain said that the state government has done away with the manual token system for farmers for the procurement of paddy from this year. Now, RCM secretaries are providing the name of the registered farmers who have harvested paddy. Their names are available in a list and a date has been fixed for the procurement of their paddy, he said.
This year the Aadhaar verification of farmers to participate in the procurement process has been made mandatory to avoid ghost farmers. However, elderly or sick or differently-abled farmers can sell their paddy at mandis (market yards) even if they fail to appear there for Aadhaar verification, Swain informed the Assembly.
If any registered farmer fails to sell his paddy at a mandi on a scheduled date, the concerned person will be given another chance to participate in the procurement process, the minister further stated.
Besides, action will be taken against the millers if they are found purchasing paddy at a lower rate, he added. However, he remained silent on the promises made by the Labour Minister Susanta Singh and government deputy chief whip Rohit Pujari to the farmers of Sambalpur and Bargarh districts that the government will procure their paddy even without the online token.