Sonepur: As kharif paddy procurement in Subarnapur district has already started from Saturday and harvesting of paddy is going on in full swing, the local registered farmers have resented for not being given requisite token and other documents.
According to sources, the civil supplies department has issued tokens only to three registered farmers of the district. The farmers are – Rajkumar Danasena, Akshaya Sahoo and Khirod Danasena. Rajkumar and Khirod could sell total 132.02 quintals of paddy at Dunguripali Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS).
However, Akshaya could not bring his produce to the nearest mandi. Although it was decided earlier to start procurement Friday, not a single bag of kharif paddy could be procured for tokens not being issued to local farmers and the stalemate continues.
Worthy to note, 47,990 farmers had registered online in Subarnapur district for selling kharif paddy this season. As paddy harvesting is about to be completed in Dunguripali and Binika blocks, local farmers have demanded immediate issuance of tokens online.
In a meeting of district-level procurement committee held under the chairmanship of district Collector Dasarathi Satapathy, it was decided to prevent distress sale of paddy this season, a report said.
Tentative kharif paddy procurement target was set at 1,94,117.647 metric tonnes, for the first phase. It was targeted to procure paddy through 64 PACS, 13 sales centers and five market yards.
The Regulated Market Committees (RMCs) and PACS have been asked to provide requisite facilities to the farmers at paddy purchasing centers, including drinking water, analysis kit, moisture meter, tarpaulin and polythene sheets to cover purchased paddy.
PNN