AMBALA: The protests by farmers with the demand for paddy procurement continued for the second consecutive day in the Ambala region including Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar, as the procurement could not be started on Tuesday too.
In Yamunanagar the farmers blocked Jagadhri-Yamunanagar road for about 3 hours and protested while demanding paddy procurement.
A farmer Sanju of Gundiana village said, “As per the text message that I received, my schedule for purchase of 200 quintals of paddy was on September 29, but the purchase did not start today. The officials did not even inform anything about the revised schedule and it is harassment as I came to the market as per schedule.”
Farmers Rajeev of Chhachharauli and Tejpal of Sudhal village said, “We have been waiting for paddy procurement for the past four days at the grain markets but it did not start even on Tuesday.”
Yamunanagar SDM Darshan Kumar and DSP headquarters Subash Chand reached the spot to pacify farmers.
SDM Darshan said, “The farmers demanded paddy procurement and our agencies were ready but due to some demands by rice millers it could not be started. To resolve the issue of proper scheduling, the farmers demanded that the mapping should be done locally rather than from Chandigarh, as local arhtiyas remain in touch with the farmers who inform them about the readiness of their crop.”
In Kurukshetra, the farmers protested in front of Thanesar grain market.
As per the information, the rice millers did not accept the crop over their demands from the Haryana government, and the procurement process is halted.
However, in Sardehri village under Barara market committee of Ambala district, a total of about 1,500 quintal of paddy was procured and about 4,000 quintals of paddy which was procured on Sunday at Shahabad grain market was lifted on Tuesday, told Shahabad-Barara market committee secretary Krishan Kumar.
Ambala deputy commissioner (DC) Ashok Kumar Sharma said, “The procurement could not be started due to protest by rice millers from last two days. We are fully prepared to start the process but the demands of rice millers are to be dealt at the state-level and they are in discussion with the government. Most probably, the issues would be resolved by Wednesday and procurement will resume.”
On the other side, in protest due to delay in paddy procurement, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Haryana has announced to block roads in front of grain markets in the region at 11 am on Wednesday.
BKU Haryana president Gurnam Singh Charuni said, “We went to meeting additional chief secretary (ACS) of Haryana food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs department Shri Pranab Kishore Das about the paddy procurement. We held a meeting with him for two hours from 12 noon to 2 pm on Tuesday and demanded from the ACS to remove the condition of moisture content of paddy at 17 points. We demanded that paddy should be procured with moisture content at 22 points and the farmers are ready to bear moisture cut. We demanded to increase the per acre yield cap from 25 quintals to 30 quintals and also raised other demands of the farmers. ACS did not take our demands seriously and did not assure us to resolve issues. Therefore, we have decided to block roads in front of grain markets at 11 am on Wednesday.”
In Yamunanagar the farmers blocked Jagadhri-Yamunanagar road for about 3 hours and protested while demanding paddy procurement.
A farmer Sanju of Gundiana village said, “As per the text message that I received, my schedule for purchase of 200 quintals of paddy was on September 29, but the purchase did not start today. The officials did not even inform anything about the revised schedule and it is harassment as I came to the market as per schedule.”
Farmers Rajeev of Chhachharauli and Tejpal of Sudhal village said, “We have been waiting for paddy procurement for the past four days at the grain markets but it did not start even on Tuesday.”
Yamunanagar SDM Darshan Kumar and DSP headquarters Subash Chand reached the spot to pacify farmers.
SDM Darshan said, “The farmers demanded paddy procurement and our agencies were ready but due to some demands by rice millers it could not be started. To resolve the issue of proper scheduling, the farmers demanded that the mapping should be done locally rather than from Chandigarh, as local arhtiyas remain in touch with the farmers who inform them about the readiness of their crop.”
In Kurukshetra, the farmers protested in front of Thanesar grain market.
As per the information, the rice millers did not accept the crop over their demands from the Haryana government, and the procurement process is halted.
However, in Sardehri village under Barara market committee of Ambala district, a total of about 1,500 quintal of paddy was procured and about 4,000 quintals of paddy which was procured on Sunday at Shahabad grain market was lifted on Tuesday, told Shahabad-Barara market committee secretary Krishan Kumar.
Ambala deputy commissioner (DC) Ashok Kumar Sharma said, “The procurement could not be started due to protest by rice millers from last two days. We are fully prepared to start the process but the demands of rice millers are to be dealt at the state-level and they are in discussion with the government. Most probably, the issues would be resolved by Wednesday and procurement will resume.”
On the other side, in protest due to delay in paddy procurement, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Haryana has announced to block roads in front of grain markets in the region at 11 am on Wednesday.
BKU Haryana president Gurnam Singh Charuni said, “We went to meeting additional chief secretary (ACS) of Haryana food, civil supplies, and consumer affairs department Shri Pranab Kishore Das about the paddy procurement. We held a meeting with him for two hours from 12 noon to 2 pm on Tuesday and demanded from the ACS to remove the condition of moisture content of paddy at 17 points. We demanded that paddy should be procured with moisture content at 22 points and the farmers are ready to bear moisture cut. We demanded to increase the per acre yield cap from 25 quintals to 30 quintals and also raised other demands of the farmers. ACS did not take our demands seriously and did not assure us to resolve issues. Therefore, we have decided to block roads in front of grain markets at 11 am on Wednesday.”
