Tardy lifting of wheat worries arthiyas, farmers in Sirsa

Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, April 26

In the district, wheat has been consistently arriving at procurement centres and grain markets, but the lifting process has been hindered due to lack of labour. The shortage of labour has resulted in concerns among farmers and arthiyas about the potential losses due to their inability to lift the wheat-filled sacks.

Additionally, the farmers bringing their produce to the market have been facing challenges in unloading the produce due to limited space. This has led to trucks waiting to unload at warehouses.

Meanwhile, officials at District Food and Supplies Office reported that the farmers who sold wheat in the district had received Rs 370 crore, while a total of Rs 524 crore for PSP and commercial mustard purchase had been distributed, which included Rs 399 crore from Hafed Agency and Rs 125 crore from Haryana Warehouse Corporation.

The Arthiya Association, Sirsa, submitted a memorandum asking the authorities to address the inconvenience caused by the slow lifting of wheat. They demanded an increase in the number of vehicles and also sought the lifting of produce be expedited to avoid difficulties to the farmers and arthiyas.

The Arthiya Association, Sirsa, president, Manohar Lal Mehta, said in Sirsa Anaj Mandi, only 47 trucks were being operated by the contractor appointed by the administration. Whereas, the requirement was of 100 trucks. Another problem that plagued the farmers here was the lack of labour as there weren’t enough labourers to load the produce, which had resulted in the produce lying in the market, he said.

Ram Lal, a stakeholder of the Additional Anaj Mandi in Sirsa, said he had been waiting to get his 2,000 bags lying in the open to be lifted for the last one week. Two days ago, one truck was arranged by the contractor, in which only 702 bags were lifted. He said private vehicles were being arranged for lifting. There was fear of being levied a penalty if lifting was not done on time. Due to weak monitoring by the administration, there was chaos.

Notably, there was a bumper production of mustard this year. The Sirsa Market Committee had purchased significantly more mustard compared to last year. However, 39 per cent of the mustard were still to be lifted, posing logistical challenges.

Sirsa Market Committee secretary Virendra Mehta said through the committee, 13,97,050 quintals of wheat had been purchased from 13 procurement centres, and 4,41,279 quintals lifted. Talking about the lifting Mehta said, 61 per cent had been lifted so far, and 39 per cent of mustard was still to be lifted.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner RK Singh visited the Sirsa grain market on Thursday to oversee the lifting operations and other arrangements in detail. He directed officials to lift wheat from empty trucks and also reprimanded the contractors. He oversaw the wheat lifting process. He said delays would not be tolerated and instructed the officials to promptly lift the wheat crop. He asked them to make additional arrangements for trucks and labour so as to ensure smooth operation.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.

#Sirsa