General Secretary of All India Congress, former Union Minister, member of Congress Working Committee and former state president of Haryana Congress, Kumari Selja said that the state government had announced to start the procurement of paddy on October 25 but by delaying the start by 10 days, it is trying to harass the farmers. Did the work November 15 is the last day announced by the government for purchasing paddy at the support price of Rs 2203 per quintal in the grain markets, while the crop is still standing in the fields. This time the paddy season is going on long, so the procurement season should also be long. Farmers are already not getting the full support price and if procurement is stopped at the support price, there will be further loss, hence the procurement time should be extended by a fortnight by the government so that the farmers do not suffer financial loss.
In a statement issued to the media, Kumari Selja said that this time due to weather, the arrival of paddy had started in the Anaj Mandis before the scheduled time, and the Anaj Mandis were filled to the brim with paddy. After this, procurement of paddy was started on 05 November. During this period, the government did not make any concrete arrangements due to which many procurement agencies were able to purchase paddy in very small quantities. Farmers upset with the government’s policy also raised this issue but the government did not react to it. The fixed date for purchasing paddy at support price has been fixed as 15th November, but even during this period, the arrival of paddy is fast. The government intends to harass the farmers and enable private agencies to purchase paddy at throwaway prices. On the occasion of Diwali, instead of giving bonuses to the farmers in Sirsa, the purchase of paddy was stopped for 5 days due to which the farmers had to suffer huge losses. The state government has fixed the time for the purchase of paddy but even during this time, it has harassed the farmers by not purchasing the paddy smoothly.
The state government at the Center is making tall claims of being farmer-friendly, through newspapers and social media, but on the ground, it is working to spoil the economy of farmers by implementing anti-farmer policies. If a high-level investigation is conducted into the matter of paddy procurement in the state, the government’s policy can become clear. Farmers came to many grain markets in the state to sell their paddy crops, but their procurement took place at a gap of two to three days, which caused trouble for the farmers. In the matter of paddy procurement, the government intends that private agencies should be able to buy the paddy crop at throwaway prices and sell it in the market at a higher price. Silja said that the state government is hell-bent on harassing every section of society except the farmers, especially the unemployed youth and is trying to mislead them in the name of providing them employment. He said that ever since the BJP and coalition government came to power in the state, the unemployment graph has been increasing day by day, apart from this the law and order situation in the state has become bankrupt.