Haryana farmers protest for 3rd day, alleges delay in paddy procurement

Farmers held protests at various mandis in Haryana's Kurukshetra district for the third day on Tuesday, alleging delay in paddy procurement and a lack of coordination between the government departments and various agencies.

Farmers in Karnal district also protested over glitches in the procurement process.

The state government started procurement in Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar from September 27, while in other districts it began on Tuesday.

Agitating farmers raised slogans against the state government in Kurukshetra, Pipli, Pehowa and Ladwa.

Thanesar Sub-Divisional Magisrate Akhil Pilani tried to pacify the protesters, who complained that they were waiting in the mandis for seven-eight days to sell their crops.

Secretary, Market Committee, Kurukshetra, Harjeet Singh said farmers submitted a memorandum to the SDM and demanded that their produce be procured at the earliest.

He said the procurement could not start even on Tuesday as the rice millers refused to make purchases till some of their demands were accepted by the state government.

Besides, he said, the portal of the market committee was also not working. In many cases, it shows very less cultivable land registered by farmers on the 'Meri Fasal Mera Byora' portal due to which they are not getting gate-pass to sell the crop in the 'mandi'.

Agitating farmers threatened that they would block vehicular traffic on Wednesday if the procurement process does not start by then.

Haryana BKU leader Gurnam Singh said not just Kurukshetra, farmers were facing problems in other mandis of the state as well.

He said they held a two-hour meeting with Additional Chief Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, PK Das, in Chandigarh regarding the problems faced by the farmers.

We did not get any concrete assurance regarding our problems, he said.

Gurnam Singh said the BKU has given a call for protest in front of the mandis on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, farmers in Pipli and Ladwa raised anti-government slogans, those in Pehowa blocked traffic on the Chandigarh-Hisar highway for over five hours.

DSP, Pehowa, Gurmaij Singh said traffic had to be diverted.

A farmer said the state government should resolve issues with rice millers as well as farmers to relax the condition for moisture content and take paddy even with higher content of 17 percent fixed by the government.

On Monday, farmers at a ''mandi'' had also locked up the secretary and other staff of the Market Committee inside the office. They relented after a large police contingent reached the spot to control the situation.