Farmer unions start indefinite strike at 25 toll plazas to protest tardy paddy procurement.

Written by Anju Agnihotri Chaba , Raakhi Jagga

The refusal of rice shellers in Punjab to mill government-procured paddy has led to a significant glut in the state’s mandis. Despite the sharp increase in paddy arrivals, the grain remains unmoved, causing congestion at procurement centers. Rice shellers, however, have offered to store the government’s paddy at their mills as a temporary solution, though they remain firm on not milling the crop until their demands are met.

Nearly 88% procured paddy remained unmoved in the state mandis till Wednesday. This year, the government is expecting to procured 185 lakh tonne (LT) paddy of which 13.62LT reached mandis till Wednesday.

Tarsem Saini, president of Punjab Rice Sheller Association said that they are ready to store government’s paddy at their mills. “But we will not begin the milling process until our issues are resolved. The government can store the paddy at our facilities and take documentation of the total stock from each mill. We have done this before in 1999 and even in 2005-06 when similar issues arose,” he said.

The concerns of rice shellers stem from a range of ongoing disputes with procurement agencies, including demands for creating space in the government godowns so that milled rice can be delivered to the government agencies by March 31, 2025, better dirage rates and assurances related to milling contracts. Saini claims that government officials from procurement agencies are exerting undue pressure on rice shellers to store paddy solely for milling purposes, rather than allowing it to be stored as a buffer to ease the current glut.

“When the government can store wheat in our shellers, why not paddy?” he asked, criticising the reluctance of some officials to accept the offer of storage without milling commitments.

A senior officer in Markfed alleged that certain officials from procurement agencies are involved in corrupt practices, accepting payments from arhtiyas and rice shellers to ensure that only high-quality paddy is sent to specific mills for milling. If rice shellers merely store paddy without milling it, the distinction between good and poor-quality grain becomes irrelevant, potentially disrupting this system of favoritism, he added.

Saini also confirmed this practice.

For now, the primary concern is to ensure that the harvested paddy is moved out of mandis and stored securely. “There is no safer place for the paddy than our rice mills,” Saini said. The state government, however, is yet to respond to this.

Meanwhile, protesting against tardy lifting of paddy from the mandis, BKU Ugrahan on Thursday started an indefinite protest at 25 toll plazas. From Friday onwards, protests will also be started outside the houses of prominent BJP leaders and as many AAP ministers, MLAs and MPs told Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president BKU Ugrahan.

Toll plazas have been made tax free for general commuters in 14 districts of Punjab. Four such locations are in Bathinda, 3 each in Taran Taran and Amritsar and 2 each in Ferozepur, Barnala, Sangrur and Patiala while one each in Ludhiana, Fazilka, Muktsar, Mohali, Jalandhar and Moga districts of Punjab. In Ludhiana farmers staged protest at Chowkimaan toll plaza in Jagraon, Darapur in Moga while Giddranwali in Fazilka.

In Moga, Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said, “If smooth procurement of paddy and immediate payments are not started, continuous protests will be held outside the homes of senior BJP leaders, as well as as many AAP MLAs, MPs, and other ministers from Friday.”

Jhanda Singh Jethuke, senior vice president of BKU Ugrahan said, “We demand uninterrupted procurement of paddy at full MSP. Farmers should be compensated for paddy already sold at below MSP. We also demand compensation for the PR 126 variety of paddy, which yields less than Pusa 44.”

The government has advised us to sow PR 126 for water conservation purposes and now they should compensated our losses, said Shingara Singh Mann, Bathinda unit president of BKU Ugrahan.

Published Date: October 18, 2024