After the purchase of paddy had begun in Haryana, Food Corporation of India (FCI) set a target of procuring nearly 60 lakh MT paddy in Haryana this year— which is nearly 3 lakh MT higher as compared to last year. Out of the set target, FCI will have to purchase 2.98 lakh MT paddy.
The process of procurement is presently slow as the untimely monsoon affected it. Besides, it has adverse effects on the crops which resulted in huge loss to the farmers. In view of this, the agrarian community is demanding compensation. According to the information provided by the concerned department, the FCI had set the target of procurement of 56.7 lakh MT paddy. At present the procurement process is not up to the expectations and officials are of the view that the process is likely to get pace soon. Apart from this, the officials continue to inform farmers not to bring paddy with more than 17 percent moisture.
The FCI has set up a Central Control Room to maintain the record of paddy being procured everyday and the employees have been deployed there from 8 AM to 8 PM. The information made available by the state government showed that a total of 307408 lakh MT paddy has been precured. For the same, as many as 58612 gate passes were issued to the farmers as they are not allowed to bring paddy without the entry passes. After completing the auction details of the 15424 farmers, a total 30662 lakh MT paddy of 4934 farmers has been registered for the auction which is likely to be completed soon. It also came to light that 16 of the godowns in the state are lacking infrastructure and the government has issued orders to look into the matter.
Regarding the procurement of the paddy, Pardeep Singh, Deputy General Manager of FCI, Haryana Region said that we have made proper arrangements to ensure the smooth purchase of the paddy so that farmers don’t face any kind of hurdle. Besides, most of the godowns being run by FCI are equipped with new technology and required changes.
Earlier, the state government had decided to start the procurement of the paddy on October 1, 2021 but an untimely monsoon forced the government to amend its decision and again it was decided to start the process on 11 October, 2021. But it annoyed the farmers as a lot of the crops were lying in the Mandis. In wake of the farmers’ agitation, the government announced to start the procurement on October 3, 2021.